Limelight Hydrangeas

[htate]

Great day to you,
I am reaching out to you because I ordered 2 (Two gallon) Limelight Hydrangeas from Home Depot last week. They were shipped to me from Proven Winners via FedEx. When they arrived I could tell they were not handled with care based on the condition of the box they arrived in. They were shipped from South Carolina (Proven Winners Nursery). When I took them out of the box there were a lot of dead leaves on the bottom of the box. However, there were still leaves on the actual plants and that made me hopeful. I immediately watered them and put them out on my porch (Philadelphia, Pa, 19144). The next day I noticed that the leaves were burning up. After that, I watered them again thoroughly and brought them inside to a shadier spot because they were experiencing shock from being transported. All seemed well until the next day. I noticed that the leaves were still drying up and falling off both plants. This is when I reached out to Proven Winners via online and explained what had occurred. The Horticulturist told me to plant them in my lawn ASAP. Here is the thing. We are currently experiencing a heat wave in Philadelphia that is forecasted for at least the next week. Plus, summer is here. Where I plan on planting them there is no shade at all and I am concerned that they will burn all the leaves and probably kill the plants. My plan is to wait until the last week of August or the first week of September and then plant them in my lawn. This will give the plants enough time to establish its roots before winter. In the meantime the plants are still inside and they are still alive but not doing very well. Please give me some helpful advice to overcome this dilemma that I an dealing with. Best wishes Howard.

 

[htate]

These are pictures of my Limelight Hydrangeas. All the leaves are gradually dying and falling off.

 

[Meadowlark]

Welcome @htate

It is a bad time of year to be transplanting hydrangeas. However, if your providers horticulturist has advised you to transplant immediately and you fail to do so.... does that invalidate any warranty from the provider?

The plants arrived in a stressed-out condition. Continuing to move them around, outside where the leaves were "burning up" to inside where it appears to have insufficient lighting is adding to the stress which is already high big time.

If you are going to leave them in that location until August/September, more sunlight will be required IMO for their survival.

You mentioned that the intended lawn location spot has "no shade at all". Is it possible to find a more suitable location spot in the lawn where the plants would receive afternoon shade? Alternatively, is it possible to set up shade in that preferred spot to enable afternoon shade?

If you can provide afternoon shade and your warranty depends on transplanting now, then I would tend toward transplanting now. Either way, the risk is very high at this point because of the continuing high stress on the plants.

 

[htate]

They appear to be doing better inside at the present time. I will try and increase the light to accommodate them for now. However, I was informed by a Horticulturalist at Penn University that the best option is to wait until late August or early September to plant them in the lawn. I do have a 90 day warrant on the plants themselves, so if the expire I will take them back to Home Depot for a full refund. I also have a PH and moisture meter (digital) to ensure that they are not over or under watered. Let's keep are fingers crossed and hope for the best. Thanks for replying.

 

[Meadowlark]

... This is when I reached out to Proven Winners via online and explained what had occurred. The Horticulturist told me to plant them in my lawn ASAP. ...

...I was informed by a Horticulturalist at Penn University that the best option is to wait until late August or early September to plant them in the lawn. ...

Dealers' choice...

 

[LouisFerdinand]

Do your hydrangeas require partial shade or full shade?

 

[htate]

Partial.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

your statement, WHERE YOUR PLANNING TO PLANT THEM HAS NO SHADE AT ALL. That hurst my heart. any hydrangea needs shade, you can get away with sun movement for a couple hours but in general direct continuous sun NEVER. Partial shade is what they need.

Advise to you my dear----before you select any plant, read about it, know where or even if you have the right area for it, just because you see something visual and you think you'd like it, it may not work in your garden. And you then will save frustration, stress and money.

BTW I do not buy any plants from Home Depo or Lowes. maybe some annuals,

 

[htate]

Lesson learned. Thank you for the advice