What cause Hydrangea's to not blossom?

Millie Hall
by Millie Hall
I have several Hydrangeas' including a lace-cap and some ever blooming ones. We had a pretty harsh winter in western new York, so I think maybe this has something to do with it , but not sure if it may be related to something I did or didn't do correctly. HELP!
  8 answers
  • Kristy D Kristy D on Jun 23, 2014
    Have you tested the acidity in your soil? Also, did you prune? Depending on the type of Hydrangea, some bloom on old wood, so if you happened to mistakenly prune this type you most likely will not see blooms this year.
  • Harsh winter can do this. Mine are slow to bloom this year too and I am on zone 7. Kristy makes a good point about pruning at the wrong times - you prune after flowers are spent/done. are they new plants or established? Be patient you may still get blooms
  • Patricia Laursen Patricia Laursen on Jun 23, 2014
    Mine are slow this year, too. When should you prune? I do dead wood in Spring. Should I be doing fall pruning. Had a terrible winter here on Cape Cod. Never had this happen before.
    • @Patricia Laursen To me the only reason to prune is to get rid of dead wood. Depending upon which hydrangea, you may cut off the next year blooms. Keeping the hydrangea mulched and moist is also important. Sounds like you do the right thing already Patricia
  • Elaine Simmons Elaine Simmons on Jun 23, 2014
    If you have had a freeze this spring after the buds formed, that might be the reason they are not blooming. I used the type that blooms on old or new wood and had pretty good luck.
  • Tracy Gilmore Tracy Gilmore on Jun 24, 2014
    i allways prune the old flower heads of the following summer as i can see the new growth for next years flowers, if your cutting new growth of every year it wont flower, are you feeding with a ericacious food/fertiliser
  • Jeanette S Jeanette S on Jun 24, 2014
    Atlanta had a particularly cold winter...too many days in a row where it was freezing. It took a toll on several things. Here it is late June and I still do not have any Hydrangea blooms...I have a lacecap too! My Gardenia bushes looked like they had been burned so I trimmed them from about 5+ feet down to about 12-18". They are just now beginning to get fully covered in new leaves. It will be at least a couple of years before they get back to their original size. Just hang in there! P.S. I have no idea of when or if to prune. I am going to prune one part of my bush and not the other to determine which works best this year. BTW, mine have bloomed for the past several years with no assistance from me!
  • Millie Hall Millie Hall on Jun 24, 2014
    I have the same type, and usually no problem as well. Now that I think of it there may have been some Spring freeze around my area. Thanks for your feed-back.