Hydrangea woes!

[daisylover26]

I planted three hydrangeas this past Spring and they thrived beautifully and one even bloomed in the summer. They were still green and upright until about two weeks ago. I watered them because we'd been without rain for so long and there'd been a lot of wind and since they were still so green, I thought they needed it. After that day all three of them have turned black and are completely wilted!! :( Upon a closer inspection of the leaves, I see tiny little gray spots all over them. I wondered if they might be aphids, but the spots don't come off at all. Does anyone have any idea what is going on with my hydrangeas? Is there anything I can do to fix them? They grew so nicely and I'd hate to lose them. Please help!

[Capucine]

Daisy, It's normal for them to loose their leaves in the winter. Mine are about nothing but sticks now as well. I'm not sure what the spots could be. If you want to know that they are okay, break off one of the stems. If it's green on the inside it's fine. And I feel sure they are fine. About 3 weeks ago is when we had our first freeze here so that's when mine wilted too. Take the stem you break off by a nursery and ask them about the spots. Or, you could post a picture on Gardenweb. I'm sure someone over there could probably tell you what it is.

BTW, I leave the brown blooms on mine all winter because at least it's something besides just sticks. LOL!! When it starts putting on new growth in the spring I cut them off.

[scbshell]

My hydrangea looks awful now that the frost has come. As Capucine said, they die back in the winter. You need to be careful about pruning it because they bloom off of old wood. I found that out the hard way and mine didn't bloom when we were first in our house.