Question
QUESTION: Hello. I know according to your info this isn't exactly your area of expertise but everyone else is gone and I am afriad to wait any longer! This year I bought two hydrangea plants both had many leaves and had to full heads of beutiful flowers. I planted them both outside on the same day 5 feet apart(we are in Ohio). It's been about a month a a half now and one of my hydrangeas the blooms seem to be shrivling up onto themselves(first turning like a greenish/brown and now brown spots) and the leaves remind me of lettuce. They are very wrinkly and hard like when you get to the bottom of a head of lettuce. I have inspected the leaves fully and see no insects or anything else on them. It's rained quite alot since I planted them so I know its not lack of water. As the one hydrangea has slowly worsened the other one I planted has gotten bigger and showed none of the signs the other had until two days ago. Now it too has blooms that are shrivling upand has brown spots. As far as its leaves it is perfect. Do you have any idea what this could possibly be? Also if you do know is it going to kill the plant or will it come up next year okay? Thank you!

ANSWER: Hi Talisha..I have hydrangeas here and it just sounds like it is time for the bloom to fade.  Only just planting them, you are lucky to have blooms this year.  The most important thing is never to plant it too deep.  You should still be able to see the original soil of the plant your purchases.  Rain sometimes is not enough, especially with hydrangeas,  Here in FL they take more water than most of my other plants.  I mulch to keep the soil cooler and I plant in morning sun and afternoon shade.  Have not had any problem with insects and have been growing them for about 15 years.  Hopefully something I mentioned helps.  The other thing would be using the wrong fertilizer.  Make sure it is a slow release as not to burn or hurt your plants.  Spend more money and get a good product.

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QUESTION: Okay. So I have a few followups. So I should not worry about the blooms turning brown or the leaves on the one shrivling up? It's just its time to fade? Also I planted both of mine in full sun will that hurt them? I figured bring in Ohio it would be okay. I do have mulch around them. I also have never fertilized them so should I do that? Becuase these hydrangeas should be the endless summer ones and should not be turning brown from what I understood.

Answer
Hi Talisha ...this is what I found for you.  Most hydrangeas enjoy morning sunlight with peppery afternoon shade.
Keep your hydrangeas growing happily with a nice layer of mulch around the base of the plant.
Only prune your hydrangea to remove dead wood or to shape the plant after it has bloomed.
Aluminum sulfate may be added to the soil around your hydrangea plants to turn pink hydrangeas blue.
Lime may be added to the soil around your hydrangeas to turn blue hydrangea blooms pink in color.
Adding a balanced fertilizer late in the Winter or early in the Spring is all that is usually needed to properly feed hydrangeas.
Keep hydrangea plants well watered during dry spells.
Fresh cut hydrangea makes a wonderful bouquet for special occasions.