"Melting" Hydrangea Flowers

[valhalla]

I have a magnificent huge multi-colored hydrangea bush.  It appears that hundreds of flowers have bloomed all at once and are now melting in the heat.  I've been watering and misting the bush, which recovers nicely, but the flowers are melting.  Any ideas?  Oh, we have had virtually no rain.  Thanks!

[Donna]

I have a magnificent huge multi-colored hydrangea bush.  It appears that hundreds of flowers have bloomed all at once and are now melting in the heat.  I've been watering and misting the bush, which recovers nicely, but the flowers are melting.  Any ideas?  Oh, we have had virtually no rain.  Thanks!

Found this online: I find shading my hydrangeas with a larger tree canopy overhang if possible helps
with the wilt issue because of direct sun.
Watering every day can be just as destructive as allowing the plants to dry out."

[valhalla]

I have a magnificent huge multi-colored hydrangea bush.  It appears that hundreds of flowers have bloomed all at once and are now melting in the heat.  I've been watering and misting the bush, which recovers nicely, but the flowers are melting.  Any ideas?  Oh, we have had virtually no rain.  Thanks!

Found this online: I find shading my hydrangeas with a larger tree canopy overhang if possible helps
with the wilt issue because of direct sun.
Watering every day can be just as destructive as allowing the plants to dry out."

Wilting, yes, but this plant has been here forever - almost as tall as the fence and takes up almost that entire side.  It does get shade, too.  The flowers aren't wilting they are melting!  Huge blue, purple, pink and cream-colored blossoms.  People stopped to tell me how beautiful (I feared that what happened to Ei's lilacs might happen here), then they began melting into black blobs.  I did nothing different this year than last, including fertilizing.  I'm going to start to dump the coffee grinds out there, but I don't they that is the problem.  The leaves look great (a few sunburnt ones, but nothing to get any attention) and the new growth has begun that will put the plant higher than the fence.  My flowers are melting

[Donna]

I have a magnificent huge multi-colored hydrangea bush.  It appears that hundreds of flowers have bloomed all at once and are now melting in the heat.  I've been watering and misting the bush, which recovers nicely, but the flowers are melting.  Any ideas?  Oh, we have had virtually no rain.  Thanks!

Found this online: I find shading my hydrangeas with a larger tree canopy overhang if possible helps
with the wilt issue because of direct sun.
Watering every day can be just as destructive as allowing the plants to dry out."

Wilting, yes, but this plant has been here forever - almost as tall as the fence and takes up almost that entire side.  It does get shade, too.  The flowers aren't wilting they are melting!  Huge blue, purple, pink and cream-colored blossoms.  People stopped to tell me how beautiful (I feared that what happened to Ei's lilacs might happen here), then they began melting into black blobs.  I did nothing different this year than last, including fertilizing.  I'm going to start to dump the coffee grinds out there, but I don't they that is the problem.  The leaves look great (a few sunburnt ones, but nothing to get any attention) and the new growth has begun that will put the plant higher than the fence.  My flowers are melting

Well...water made the Witch melt! I don't know what to tell you Janet. I feel bad, shame to lose a beautiful plant. I've been searching for an answer.

[valhalla]

Me, too.  I can't find anything about the melting flowers.  They aren't getting brown - just black goo and melting, which is why I posted here.  I figure someone will have seen this before.

I'm pretty confident that the plant is ok.  It is at the corner of the garage and the very hot driveway it next to it.  I figure this plant is at least 10 years old, so it has seen lots of heat and drought (thank God it isn't like 2000 when it was 103 and 104 on 7/4 - THAT was horrible), although I suspect this was a young plant in 2000.

I have a new Hydrangea in the new front garden that should bloom 1 or 2 flowers in a few weeks.  That garden gets a LOT of sun and water because of all the new growth (just my luck, plant a garden in a non-rain year).  Time will tell, but I do think the plant is ok...

[Dot_Forrester]

You might check online for diseases affecting hydrangea flowers.  I took a real quick look and saw this description:

Outbreaks of Botrytis blight can be seen in the landscape on hydrangea flower buds and blossoms.  On hydrangea, symptoms are usually limited to the flower buds and especially the petals. The small water-soaked spots seen on the petals quickly expand into reddish brown irregular blotches. Brightly colored petals quickly fade to a brown, withered mass.

The trouble is that the various diseases usually occur in wet humid weather which we haven't had.  But it's the only mention I saw of anything resembling "melting flowers that turn into black blobs".  I didn't have time to search thoroughly so you might want to check online yourself.

Dot in PA

[Tokira]

Me, too.  I can't find anything about the melting flowers.  They aren't getting brown - just black goo and melting, which is why I posted here.  I figure someone will have seen this before.

That part sounds like some sort of fungus to me...  There are some sprays for fungus, you might want to try one on part of the bush.
Carol in WV
Whose huge Limelight Hydrangea is about to burst into bloom, and whose Lady in Red Hydrangea is covered in, get this, BLUE flowers!  Both in almost full shade.

[valhalla]

Thanks Dot and Carol!

Negative on the blight - not even in the same ballpark.  Fungus doesn't sound right because (I will send Donna a picture to post) the flowers are beautiful, soft and full of color (Carol, iron is the the color agent that will get you blue).

Our lawn guys just showed up and practically genuflected when they saw green in the lawn - lots of brown, but green because we are watering due to the new lawn, new garden, new, new, new and no rain!  Walked around to the other side of the hydrangea and it looks good.  I'm think heat even more here and I have no idea how you move a monster like this.  Oh!  Everything seems to have bloomed at once, too  ???  Also, my crepe myrtle that was ladden with flowers last year is a bit sparse this year.

Strangely, we got a monster storm last week in Arlington and the District, but not even a good spit here - we were out watering that evening.

[jeanne]

My hydrangea never made it into the ground.  I got a plant from a friend and it was fine for a while but then just lost its flowers.  I think it is now dead though I kept watering it in hopes.  Are they hard to keep alive?

I realize that I do not have a green thumb, by the way

[Patti from Kentucky]

My hydrangea never made it into the ground.  I got a plant from a friend and it was fine for a while but then just lost its flowers.  I think it is now dead though I kept watering it in hopes.  Are they hard to keep alive?

I realize that I do not have a green thumb, by the way

I have found them extremely easy to keep alive...they tend to get a little droopy in full sun (especially in the 95-degree, dry weather that we've been having), but they perk back up as soon as the sun gets a little lower, and ours are very drought-resistant.  Ours got badly frostbitten in a late (easter) hard freeze a few years back, and after we trimmed off the dead parts, it came back beautifully.  Lost that season's blooms, though.  We've never had insect or fungus problems despite being in a humid climate; even last year when it was cool and rainy all summer.  We are a completely organic yard, so I don't use any chemical fertilizer or insecticides on anything (gotta keep that bug population healthy for the hummingbirds :-).  I just throw some compost on from time to time, use a mulch that will decompose into soil (bark rather than cypress), and let the leaves stay on the ground to decompose (we don't have any lawn at all; just gardens, so it's easy to let whatever falls stay there to build nice rich soil).  However, our house is over 100 years old, so it came with rich soil when we bought it; none of the hard clay you get with a new house (at least in Kentucky when you remove the topsoil you get clay).

A new hydrangea will like regular water until it gets established, which may be your problem.  I have heard people say that they can turn completely brown from not having water, and then eventually put out new growth once you start watering regularly, so don't give up yet.

[valhalla]

Agreed - very easy to grow - my mother had them all over the place.

I did NOT mist or water them today and they are wilted, but my coleus came back when the sun dipped behind the trees.

I don't want to loose next years blooms, so that is my concern today.  We do have a good compost pile going and we use bark, too.  I plan to put some of the compost on the beds in the last fall to keep things warm over the winter.  Like Patti, we don't get too many leaves, but unlike Patti, we have the clay.

Will provide updates.

[schlaf374]

You could clip a few of the blooms and take them to the local cooperative extension... They should be able to tell you what's wrong, and suggest a remedy. Even a local nursery should be able to tell you what the problem is...Just a thought.

[MAK]

Agreed - very easy to grow - my mother had them all over the place.

I did NOT mist or water them today and they are wilted, but my coleus came back when the sun dipped behind the trees.

I don't want to loose next years blooms, so that is my concern today.  We do have a good compost pile going and we use bark, too.  I plan to put some of the compost on the beds in the last fall to keep things warm over the winter.  Like Patti, we don't get too many leaves, but unlike Patti, we have the clay.

Will provide updates.

 :wave:You won't lose next years blooms just this years.

[Donna]

Funny thing about Hydrangeas, I was going down the highway today and noticed all these beach umbrellas in front of this house. They had 1 umbrella over each of the 4 Hydrangeas to keep the sun from "melting" the flowers. Looked funny but I'm sure it works. (There ya go Janet, the answer to your problem!). 

[Tokira]

I have a Limelight® hydrangea, that has finally grown up.  It's about 6' tall and 5' wide, gets about an hour of early morning sun, and is COVERED with blooms.  It's magnificent 
Carol
WV