Do Hydrangeas Bloom In The Fall?

Planting hydrangeas in early fall is ideal due to the soil’s ability to hold on to warmer temperatures from summer and remain warm until the first frost. Hydrangeas prefer well-drained loam or sandy loam soil and thrive in areas with morning sun and afternoon shade. Fertilizing mature hydrangeas annually in spring with an NPK 15-10-10 or 10-5-5 fertilizer can significantly impact their blooming potential next year.

As autumn rolls in, it is crucial to give hydrangeas a boost as they are going into dormancy. Re-blooming varieties of Hydrangea macrophylla, such as ‘Seaside Serenade Newport’, may produce some blooms into the fall, adding beauty to your garden once the weather starts to turn.

In terms of autumn hydrangea care, it is essential to identify and care for these plants. Deadheading and propagation are two important considerations. The process of changing hydrangea bloom color is best done in the autumn because it can take several months for an effective soil pH change to take place.

While hydrangeas come back every year, they don’t grow, breed, or survive in the winter, so it’s better to cut them as the winter arrives. By following these easy-to-follow tips, you can ensure that your hydrangeas maintain their beauty and blooming potential in the fall.


📹 How to Plant Your Hydrangea in Fall

Hey Flower Tribe, It’s Kelly Lehman from Cranbury Fields Flower Farm . Today I want to show you how to plant your hydrangea in …


Should I cut my hydrangea to the ground in winter?

In the late winter or early spring, hydrangeas can be pruned severely to produce larger blooms. However, many gardeners prefer the smaller blooms that result in sturdier stems. To mitigate the tendency of the plant to droop, the stems should be cut to a length of between 18 and 24 inches. This will provide a robust framework to support the new growth. This practice helps to prevent the branches from falling over as a result of the weight of the blooms, particularly following overhead irrigation or periods of heavy rainfall.

What do hydrangeas look like in the fall?
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What do hydrangeas look like in the fall?

Hydrangeas, often overlooked in horticulture, are a hidden gem that shines brightly in the fall season. These iconic shrubs, known for their vibrant yellow fall foliage, add warmth to gardens and are perfect for smaller spaces. Hydrangea paniculata ‘Bobo’ is ideal for smaller spaces, while Hydrangea quercifolia (Oakleaf Hydrangea) adds rustic elegance with its fiery red leaves. This in-depth exploration of hydrangeas in the fall season will highlight ten remarkable varieties and offer insights into integrating them into landscape design, even during winter months.

Additionally, the secrets of preserving and repurposing hydrangea blooms for stunning dried floral arrangements will be shared. As summer’s warmth fades and days shorten, hydrangeas undergo a captivating metamorphosis, transforming from showy blooms into enchanting fall foliage and dried flowers.

What months do hydrangeas grow?

Hydrangeas typically bloom from spring to early fall, with some specimens undergoing color change as they fade, thereby providing interest into the subsequent fall and winter seasons. To ensure the availability of dried blooms for winter gardens, it is recommended that pruning of fading blooms be conducted in July or August, prior to the onset of a decline in new production. The act of pruning spent blooms encourages the plant to direct its resources toward the production of new flowers.

Can you get hydrangeas in September?
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Can you get hydrangeas in September?

The hydrangea, a member of the Hydrangeaceae family, is a symbol of grace, gratitude, beauty, and abundance due to its extravagant number of flowers and generous full shape. Originating from China and parts of North and Central America, the plant symbolizes grace, gratitude, beauty, and abundance. The best-known hydrangea is Hydrangea Macrophylla, with many cultivars featuring pink, white, green, red, purple, or blue inflorescences. The blue color is created by the grower by adding special substances to the water.

The inflorescence is a sphere, with single-flowered or double-flowered small flowers. Cut hydrangeas retain their color from harvest and do not change color. You can choose for young, fresh flowers that have not changed color or color-changed flowers that have already achieved autumnal shades. The longer the color changes, the longer its vase life. Many color-changed hydrangeas are available in September, and other available species include H. paniculata (plume hydrangea) en H. arborescens with the well-known cultivar ‘Annabelle’.

What should I do with my hydrangeas in the fall?

Pruning hydrangeas that bloom on new wood is safe and can be done in late fall or early spring. The next year’s flower buds won’t form until late spring, so pruning in fall or spring won’t remove them. If you prefer a dried look in winter, leave them on and prune them in spring. If you live in a heavy snow load area or prefer a tidier look, prune them in late fall to early winter. Examples of hydrangeas that bloom exclusively on new wood include:

Do hydrangeas grow in October?
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Do hydrangeas grow in October?

Fall bloomers are hydrangeas that continue to produce large, fluffy blooms even after the weather cools. These varieties, like ‘Limelight’ and ‘Candy Apple’, bloom in the summer and continue through early autumn. Re-blooming varieties of Hydrangea macrophylla may produce some blooms into the fall, while varieties like ‘Seaside Serenade Newport’ have flowers that can last for a couple of months.

To identify fall bloomers, look for distinct foliage, larger leaves, and flowers that appear in a cone rather than a rounded cluster. Blue or variations of blue, purple, and pink are signs of a macrophylla type.

Caring for fall bloomers is similar to caring for spring- and summer-loving breeds. They typically enjoy sun, but pruning needs may differ. For example, the former can be pruned in late winter and early spring, while the latter should be pruned after the flowers fade in early to midsummer. Regardless of when your hydrangeas typically flower, they all prefer soil rich in organic matter and should be watered enough to keep it moist but not wet.

Do hydrangeas like sun or shade?
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Do hydrangeas like sun or shade?

Hydrangeas, commonly known as hydrangeas, prefer partial sun locations, receiving sun in the morning and shade in the afternoon. The Endless Summer® Hydrangea series, such as BloomStruck®, Endless Summer®, Blushing Bride®, and Twist-n-Shout®, prefer part shade. Smooth hydrangeas like the Annabelle Hydrangea also require some shade from the afternoon sun. Bigleaf hydrangeas, also known as hydrangea macrophylla, prefer some shade, especially during the afternoon. For best flowering, big leaf hydrangeas like Nikko Blue and Glowing Embers should get some sun.

Planting hydrangeas in a spot with good drainage, morning sun, and afternoon shade is essential. Most hydrangeas bloom in spring and summer, and can reach heights of 15 feet or higher. They can be grown in pots to decorate patios, apartment balconies, or as a hedge or privacy screen.

Panicle hydrangeas like Fire Light®, Limelight, Pinky Winky®, Strawberry Sundae®, and Vanilla Strawberry® can thrive in full sun. The new reblooming dwarf series, Let’s Dance®, and dwarf big leaf series, Cityline®, grow best in full or part sun. Newer smooth hydrangea varieties, Incrediball®, and Invincibelle® Ruby, are also recommended for full or part sun.

What happens if you don’t cut back hydrangeas?

Regular pruning of hydrangeas is crucial for maintaining their shape and promoting new growth, resulting in larger, healthier flowers. Deadheading hydrangeas, which involves removing spent flowers from the stem, can also help encourage better blooming later on. However, not all hydrangeas can benefit from this method, as it may result in a tangled mass of woody stems and smaller, less showy flowers.

Should hydrangeas be cut back every fall?

Hydrangeas can grow for years without pruning, but if they become unruly, overtake an area, or lose their growth capabilities, it’s time to trim them. Fall blooming hydrangeas should be pruned after they bloom in the summer, while summer blooming hydrangeas should be pruned in the fall. Hydrangeas are colorful and vibrant in the early season but are hard to preserve after being cut. They are easier to care for after they start drying on the bush. Cut down thin, wispy, weak growth near the bottom of the plant to save energy for blooms.

Should hydrangeas be cut down to the ground in the fall?

New Wood Bloomers are a cultivar of hydrangea that produce flower buds on current season wood, thereby exhibiting a tendency to bloom annually, irrespective of the level of care or treatment applied. They can be cultivated with relative ease and pruned in the fall, resulting in a profusion of blooms in the spring.

Do hydrangeas grow in the fall?
(Image Source: Pixabay.com)

Do hydrangeas grow in the fall?

The blooming season of the hydrangea is subject to influence from a number of factors, including the specific type, cultivar, and planting zone. New growth hydrangeas typically bloom in early summer, followed by subsequent blooms in spring, summer, and fall. In regions with high temperatures, the blooming period may be interrupted during the summer months, but the plants will resume blooming in the autumn.


📹 Beginner’s Guide to Hydrangea Care | Lazy Gardener’s Guide to Hydrangeas

Hydrangeas are perfect for lazy gardeners. In this video, I will show you how to care for Hydrangea the lazy way. Hydrangea is …


Do Hydrangeas Bloom In The Fall?
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27 comments

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  • Hi Kelly. We’re in Sullivan County, NY. I have a couple of suggestions: if you take your new root ball and immerse it completely in water for 30 seconds or so, you take out all the built up air which blocks future watering. It gets pretty cold in the Catskills in late October, November so the ground is hard to dig (clay soil). If you pre dig your hole in your chosen location during the summer it makes transplanting much easier. Thank you for a very well presented article. Pablo

  • Hi, l am in Hammond, IN. I planted a bloomstruck hydrangea, a pinky winky hydrangea and a pink hydrangea. The 1st one is the best, the other two are smaller & hardly performed at all. My favorite flowers are hydrangeas. I would like to plant a hydrangea tree next year. Learned a lot from your articles, thank you!

  • I live in central NY. and I love big leaf Hydrangeas. I have about 20 of them that I’ve had for about 5 yrs. The problem is it gets cold here in the winter. They grow very nice but this year I got 2 blooms out of the 20 plants. The cold pretty much kills last years growth and thusly the buds and the plants grow fresh from the ground each year. So I’m extremely jealous of your beautiful blue full plants.

  • Tacoma, Washington here. Thanks for all your hydrangea tips. Moved into a house a couple years ago with 2 big leaf hydrangea that had not received water or care for who knows how long. Now they are so full and blooming like crazy, but need to be pruned to allow for air circulation. Just picked up a limelight hydrangea, so this article is perfectly timed.

  • I found your article very helpful, thank you. We are in Virginia City NV, at 6,200 feet. I bought the exact hydrangea from Amazon also. However, it arrived late and now Mother Nature is threatening freezing weather next week. I’m torn between planting and wrapping or attempting to grow it in a pot inside. It is my all time favorite plant and therefore overthink things. Again, thank you for your lovely article

  • Thank you for your hydrangea articles. We are from PNW Seattle WA area. I have a hydrangea I am trying to remember if its a Mophead hydrangea or not. Right now it’s blooming beautiful light blue and white blossoms. We live in apartments and have it planted in a large pot but wondering if we need a bigger pot. Looking forward to seeing more of your articles. Happy planting & blessings 🌸

  • Just found you and I was looking for a tutorial on pruning mop heads. I found it. Very helpful but not correct time to prune yet… I’m assuming.. I live in south Louisiana and I have 2 twenty year old mop heads. Have never know how to trim them. They are so bad about having rust spot . What is best to control that? Hopefully I can prune, following your advice. Hopefully you see this, since it’s a year old. Haven’t seen any recent articles.

  • Dear Kelly, I live in NW Arkansas in a town called Garfield. We have 33 2 to 3yr old Hydrangeas that would be in their “leap” time. We had a rough go in Spring with Rust or powdery mildew from our rainy season but made it through. All of our shrubs have plenty of circulation around each of them, thanks to my hubby who did all the digging. Soon it will be time to put them to bed for the Winter. Do you have any suggestions on how to protect them during our (6B) Winter dormancy? This is our 3rd year of enhancing our landscape. We hope to begin propagation of our Hydrangea in Spring along with a few other flowering plants. We are having a great time working with our Hydrangeas and perusal them mature into various types of Hydrangea blooms. Next year we will choose a few Hydrangea to bloom more blues. Thanks for all of your informative articles and enthusiasm for such rewarding experience of growing one of the most gorgeous flowers we love. The next shrubs we will add will be Peonies. This is the most rewarding fun we have had in a while. There are tons of subjects to article helpful information about growing awareness of Hydrangeas that you can cover and looking forward to more. Patricia Dennie

  • I am about to start to develop our 2.7hectares farm. I am so getting excited to be in this industry. I keep wondering where I can acquire a healthy an very nice varieties of ZINNIAS, COSMOS, SUNFLOWERS and HYDRANGEA. Hope you can help me. I am from Tacloban City, Leyte, Philippines where typhoon Hyan struck in 2013.

  • Hi Ms. Kelly. I loved your hydrangea it’s really big and beautiful. I’d never see a hydrangea that big. How old is your hydrangea. I just bought a endless summer hydrangea and I am zone 8b and this is my first time planting a hydrangea. I hope my hydrangea will go big and beautiful like yours…I am from Apple Valley, Ca

  • Hello Kelly, we just planted our first ever plant 🌱! An endless summer two years old hydrangeas in Chicago! They look great and healthy with mostly green leaves and couple of little flowers, should I water it every day every in this very cold weather? And can I plant any other kind of flowers or green shrubs around it ?? Thank you Kelly! I have already learned so much from your articles

  • Hi Kelly and thanks for your wonderful articles. I just purchased 3 Limelight Hydrangeas that are going into dormancy. Although we are getting some morning temps in the high 20’s with daytime temps as high as 60 and ground temps around 48-50.. These 3 plants are very well branched and beginning to show signs of being root bound. Can I plant these now in zone 7b, late November? Thank you in advance! Don

  • Hi Kelly – I am replying from eastern PA (from my husband’s email). My name is Betsy and I just finished procreating hydrangeas (cutting the top leaf sprout(s), slicing the leaves, using root hormone, etc. Gorgeous roots were created and because it was already past our first (early frost), I planted them in potting soil in a long draining pot and placed by an indoor sunny window. My hope was to let them get strong and plant them in the spring. I watered well (and it drained). Two weeks later all the top (sliced leaves) have turned brown and appear as though they were flaking off from the main stem. Should I do anything to help the roots and mini plants thrive over the winter indoors? I hope they haven’t died. I would appreciate any feedback or suggestions you could give me.

  • Hi Kelly, Thanks for your amazing content. I have a question regarding hydrangea propagation, I live in Minnesota and it is the last week in September. Can I take cuttings out now and use rooting solution and put them in the ground? Or should I take the cuttings and put them in rooting solution and leave them Inside under a grow light? Or could I take the cuttings, put them in the rooting solution and leave them in a pot in the garage? We will probably have our first frost in a few weeks. Also I plan on trimming back my hydrangeas this week before the frost and just wanted to save the clippings instead of tossing them away,solutions on how to do this? Thank you so much.

  • Hi Kelly, from Payson, AZ, zone 7b, elevation 5,000 feet. We get snow n winter and hot summers even though we are in the mountains. Just planted my first Macrophylla today. A Blue Enchantress with black stems. I was wondering if it is a good practice to prune a hydrangea when you first plant it, so it focuses on establishing roots rather than setting new buds? Or would that cause additional stress? Im not concerned about loosing one season of blooms. This is my second hydrangea. My first was a serrata called Cape May from the seaside serenade collection. It did sleep, creep and finally made the big leap this year. I have never pruned it since planting and it is so gorgeous! Thanks for your informative articles.

  • Hi there. I bought potted hydrangeas in the early summer but never had a chance to put them in ground. I actually would like to winter them over in their nursery plastic pots on an outdoor patio and plant them in the Spring. I live in Cleveland, Ohio. Can you suggest the best way to keep them protected? And how much if at all should I water them over winter? Thanks.

  • Hello from Post Falls, Idaho. 🙂 I bought and planted my first Limelight Prime this spring. It is about as big as your new plant is. We’ve had most weeks around 95-100 degrees, dry heat. It’s on the East side of our house but still gets a lot of hot sun, afternoon shade. It looks terrible right now. Too much sun for being its first season in the ground I think? I water it regularly. Maybe too much fertilizer? The only leaves left on it are at the very tips. So sad looking. It looks like it wants to try to bloom though it’s mid Aug. Should I snip off the tiny buds so it can focus more energy to its roots? I’m worried it’s going to die. Do you think I could propagate even one little section from it? Thank you for your articles!!

  • Hi Kelly, thank you so much for this article! Love it, & your fur baby, and your accent is awesome! this is an excellent article, which i should of watched before planting my Mophead hydrangea. I’m in sandy soil in SF, CA and not sure if the hole I dug for my plant was double the size. However, I did mix in garden soil, chxn manure, & little bit of bone meal, so I hope with that start and the sandy soil that is so loose, it will not having trouble growing it roots. Also put the root ball in a wire mesh basket meant to keep gophers from eating the main roots. Just wondering if I should dig up my plant (in its only been in the soil for 5 days) and make a bigger hole & loosening the soil on the plant as you did? Also, since we don’t get hot weather here, 60-63deg with overcast usually, and our warm months are Sept, Oct, if I should be concerned of it placement in my garden. It gets mostly morning-afternoon sun with shade in later afternoon. Thnx for any helpful advice!

  • Hi there! From Sgt. Bluff, IA here. Do you cover your young hydrangea over the winter months? I’m in zone 5a and it does get very cold and extremely windy where I’m at. It’s not uncommon to get wind chills of -20 to -30 in the coldest months. What would you recommend to protect them? Thank you and I truly enjoy your articles!

  • Why are my blue and pink flowering hydrangeas that I planted in the spring, turning green? These are all Endless Summer hydrangeas. I also have a hydrangea with flowers blue or pink first, then they also turn green! What am I doing wrong? I live in Michigan, and I just checked my soil ph and it’s slightly alkaline, but close to in between acidic and alkaline. I planted the white one, and one endless summer in full sun. The Other endless summer I moved to a shady spot, with some dapples of sun, and it is producing a few beautiful dark pink flowers. We have clay soil so I mixed in some Miracle Grow potting soil and small stones or vermiculite in with the back fill soil. I would appreciate some HELP! Thank you. Love your articles!

  • Hi there I have a question. Would it be better to plant hydrangeas now late June to early July I live in East Texas zone 8 it’s 100° every day although the area is not going to be in direct sun it’s still very humid and hot. Or should I wait till the fall? I want the plans to have the best chance possible I didn’t know if doing it now would be too hard on them? I’m either going to go with proven winners or in the summer because I’ve had a lot of luck with both those brands but I always have planted them early to mid spring. Thank you so much!!

  • Watching this after my recently planted little lime lost all it’s leaves due to overwatering from sprinklers. I’m planning on replanting it on well drained soil without any sprinkler nearby. Would it be ok to plant in on a pot so I can control the moisture better on a potting soil? Also so I can move it around so it won’t get too much sun or shade while I’m reviving it? Or is it too late to revive it?

  • I noticed that you only watered this endless summer in the front of the plant vs all the way around. The amount of water didn’t seem like it was very much. I’m wondering if I am overwatering, but I’m in zone 9 and my beds are raised. They are all about 12″ to 18″ tall and I water them at the base for the count of 100 if they get more shade and 200 if they get more sunlight. I count pretty fast, so I’m guessing they are getting a good minute to 2 minutes of water from my hose. I’m thinking though, that I’m not just watering the hydrangea, but all the dirt below it as well. I also planted my Endless Summer and Big Daddy in the heat of the day and I don’t think I watered them as much initially and I lost both of them. One Big Daddy lived. What do you think, am I overwatering them? I read a few places to water them deeply a few times a week in their first year, as they are getting established, so I was trying to follow that guideline. Also, do you really want the soil to be dirt dry before you water it again? Thanks for you help.

  • Oh the questions! With sleep, creep, leap…. you said around year 3 they start to shine. My question is, is that year 3 for the plant or for being in the ground? Since we can buy different sizes I’m wondering if there is a difference in wait time. I recently bought my very first hydrangea (L.A. Dreamin 😍) in a size 3. I’m planning on keeping it potted will this still leap? Any tips? Thank you so much! I love your articles, so informative.

  • I have a question…I don’t usually do anything to my hydrangeas except for in the spring I prune them down a bit because they get huge. I get lots of blooms. I have no idea what hydrangea I have since it was here when I moved in, but I saw your article about deadheading the blooms and I did that hoping it would produce more, but it didn’t. I wanted to know if deadheading it will mean less blooms next year or if it will be okay? I usually just let the flowers die on it and leave them throughout the winter. I hope it’ll be okay. Thanks! I’m in NY. 🙂

  • Hello Kelly! Listening in Illinois! It’s November and I want to plant a hydrangea purchased in the summer. I left it outside in the elements as I thought it was going to die but instead it pruned beautifully on its own. I brought it in because it’s colder and took it back out because the leaves are wilting because obviously it was better outside. What causes it to get like that and what did I do wrong? I haven’t watered it at all but it still has very good amount of moisture. Can I plant it now? Then lastly my front yard is facing west can you recommend a hydrangea that’s good for shady mornings and sunny afternoon/evenings? Thanks in advance!

  • Do you find that you need to add acidifier in NJ to get purple/blue blooms? I planted a Bloomstruck for the first time and was really surprised to see the blooms are pink! I thought Jersey soil is acidic. So nice to see you in Ocean Grove’s shirt, that’s my favorite beach on the Jersey shore, so clean and great for the kids.