A harsh winter dismisses hydrangeas as a picture of misery. If spring comes with late frost, the flowering bushes are not spared from frost damage. You can find out here whether the frozen ornamental shrubs will return with flowers. How to successfully prevent frost damage.
Do hydrangeas come back after frost damage?
Hydrangeas can in most cases recover from frost damage because they can sprout as subshrubs with partial woody growth. However, flowering in the current season depends on the hydrangea species and variety.
Do hydrangeas with frost damage come back?
The good news is: In most cases, the hydrangea recovers from frost damage. The reason for the regeneration is growth as ahalf-shrub with partial lignification. Shoot tips do not become woody. Even slightly sub-zero temperatures cause all herbaceous plant parts and flower buds to freeze. The hydrangea will sprout again from its woody shoots. Whether flowers will form this season depends on the type and variety of hydrangea. For this reason, hydrangeas are classified as conditionally hardy.
What does a frostbitten hydrangea look like?
As a subshrub, no hydrangea in this country gets through the winter unscathed. Even slightly below zero temperatures cause mushy leaves, soggy flower buds and limp shoot tips. Only by taking a closer look at thewoody shoot areas can you determine whether a hydrangea has frozen beyond repair or will recover again. These are important indications:
- Color: a frozen hydrangea branch is pale brown or deep dark brown.
- Consistency: the wood is brittle and dried out.
- Vitality test: dried-brown tissue appears under the scraped bark (buds will sprout again from fresh green tissue).
Can I save a frostbitten hydrangea?
If a vitality test reveals fresh green tissue under the bark, the hydrangea is justapparently frozen. The actual condition of the ornamental shrub and the type of hydrangea determine the extent of the rescue measures:
- Severe frost damage to farmer's hydrangeas: cut back to he althy wood.
- Severe frost damage to panicle hydrangeas: normal pruning.
- Result: Loss of flowering in farmer's hydrangeas; Panicle hydrangeas and Endless Summer varieties bloom in the same year.
- Late frost damage to farmer's hydrangeas: do not cut back or moderately cut back to the first pair of intact buds, remove frozen leaves.
- Late frost damage to panicle hydrangeas: cut back into he althy wood.
- Result: no loss of flowering period.
How do I effectively prevent frost damage to hydrangeas?
With thissimple winter protection your hydrangeas are well prepared against bitter frost:
- Plant hydrangeas in a location protected from the blazing winter sun.
- Do not fertilize from the beginning of August so that the shoots become woody before the first frost.
- Mulch the root disc thickly with leaves and spruce branches.
- In spring, when late frost is forecast, cover the ornamental shrub with winter fleece.
- Hyrtensas in pots should ideally be frost-free over the winter.
Tip
The right fertilizer cheers up lazy hydrangeas
Sparse flowering is not necessarily due to frost damage. If a hydrangea keeps the longed-for inflorescences under lock and key, the ornamental shrub lacks the vital nutrient phosphorus. The most common cause of nutrient deficiency is one-sided fertilization with nitrogen-containing horn shavings. The concentrated load of nitrogen causes abundant foliage to sprout and inhibits flower formation. By fertilizing in the future with a phosphorus-containing flowering fertilizer (€15.00 on Amazon), the lazy hydrangea will perk up again.
