Hydrangeas that won’t bloom

(Question)

Hello. I just submitted a question about hydrangeas that won’t bloom. Here is a picture of the dried out buds.

(Answer)

Thank you for your question and the excellent picture.   You have a lovely yard.

This is quite a common issue, and in fact, I have the same thing in my yard right now.   Winter was very long in Toronto this year, and we had a mostly cool May, which may have delayed development or frosted the tips.   You have lots of healthy growth coming up from the bottom, so you will probably have flowers later in the year.  There’s nothing to do with the dried out stalks at this point except trim them off.

There are many different varieties of hydrangea; if you know which one yours is, you can fine-tune how to protect it.  There are several relevant articles in the Ask a Master Gardener database, which is available to the public, which will provide more detailed information, and list other resources you can consult.   Two of the most relevant are:

https://www.torontomastergardeners.ca/askagardener/hydrangeas-and-winter-kill/  

https://www.torontomastergardeners.ca/askagardener/hydrangeas-3/

You can also enter “hydrangeas” in the search box on the main page and find many more articles.

What gardeners need most is patience!