Hydrangea what'll I do with it?

B3

I have a hydrangea paniculata that was kindly identified for me by a forum member as something fraise . Maybe vanilla
Anyway, i didn't water it last year for a couple of days and it dropped all its leaves. It has recovered now and there's even a flower bud on it .
It's going to need to be planted out but I can't guarantee cosseting it forever.
If I get it established in the ground, is it likely to become a little more independent?

strelitzia32

I'm not particularly knowledgeable about hydrangeas, but I popped one I the ground about 3 weeks ago. Grew from cutting last year, I forgot about it and it was very unhappy, yellow leaves and dropping etc. In the ground, water and mulch, left it be, it's growing strongly now. 

Although maybe don't do it this week with the heat wave coming back?

B3

Thanks for heads up @strelitzia32 😊. A heatwave might be the wrong time to send it out into the world

Lyn

I would get it in the ground as soon as possible,  it will put roots down deep where there will be moisture, hydrangeas are not suited yo pots and the vanilla fraise grows big.
did you cut it back this Spring?  

Dovefromabove

If you’re going to plant it out now I would dig a hole and tip a couple of buckets of water in and wait for them to drain away before planting, then water again. That’ll help it cope with the heatwave 😊 

B3

It's still quite small so I didn't cut it back. It was a while before I found out what it was at all😊 
Thanks @Lyn @Dovefromabove

Lyn

Have you got a photo of it.  Sometimes plants respond to just a tiny cut, not a full prune to encourage them to grow.

B3

Hello @Lyn
Here's  some photos.  I put it on a chair in one for scale.
It looks  like it will benefit  from a prune but there's  flower buds on the end of the branches.  It's  done a real spurt in the last week.

Joy*

I've got Vanille Fraise envy. I want one! I tried last year to get one from anywhere but online (I like to see what I'm getting). Yours doesn't have a big enough pot and has got a bit leggy. If you want to put it in the garden it will be less reliant on being watered but it is likely to want some extra in dry spells. Be careful about cutting it back too much as you might find more buds on the new shoots. Spring is the best time to prune it. Yours looks as though it could be quite large, if you allow it to be.

B3

It was never intended to stay in the pot. It was a very small plant when I bought it last year. I potted it on to mature a bit.
Good luck with your search.

Lyn

This is the type that blooms on the current years growth so you can cut back in the Spring, it’s up to you if you cut the loses and do it now, personally I would, the flowers are quite small and a plant has to put in a lot of energy to flower,  it needs that energy to grow it’s garden roots and that’s a strain for it.