hydrangea flower heads dead

maggienewgardener

My hydrangea leaves look going to be brown and dry.  Why the new flower heads dead? 

 

Alina W

Has it been caught by frost?

Alternatively, is it too dry? Hydrangeas like damp soil.

maggienewgardener

It looks a mature one, it comes with my new house. I don't think I need do any frost protection with it.

I have been keeping water it recently. Maybe need more water.

Thanks.

Tee Gee

Why do you think it does not need frost protection?

It certainly looks like frost damage to me!

What area do you live in?

maggienewgardener

I thought the plant had already established for many years. How can I do the frost protection for this one? 

I am living at West Birmingham area, West Midlands.

Thanks you.

maggienewgardener

If I do some frost protection for this hydrangea now, can I still save more flower heads? Or it might be too late.

Tee Gee

There could be a number of reasons the most common is where it is located. Does it get the morning sun in winter. If it does, what happens is the plant gets frosted around dawn then when the sun rises it thaws the plant out too quickly and you end up with frost damage. Looking at your picture I think this might have happened to avoid this you could do a couple of things for example; if frost is forecast you could cover it overnight with fleece. Another thing you can do, but it will require you to get up before the morning sunshine and spray the plant with cold clean water and this will remove the frost before the sun can do any damage. The good news with your plant is I don' t think you will have lost any flower heads as I don't think they will have appeared yet in your area. You might have a few damaged growing tips which usually means it is going to delay the flowering time because the plant has to produce new flowering spurs. This link might give you a better insight to hydrangea growing; http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Data/Hydrangea/Hydrangea.htm

maggienewgardener

Hi Tee Gee, you are right. My garden faces south, and this hydrangea planed side of my west fences which can get morning sunshine. I will try your suggestions and hopefully I can see some flowers soon. Thanks a lot.