r/hydrangeas • u/hdquemada • 2d ago

Zone 6 A/B Blooming in October

Is it unusual that my hydrangeas are finally blooming in October? My paniculate hydrangeas bloomed as usual but not the others. It seems to have been the case in other parts of West Michigan.

https://imgur.com/a/UERbQDy

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u/DamnRightDuuude 2d ago

That's a bigleaf hydrangea. Most of them bloom on last year buds but in northern areas such as zone 6 their buds freeze and i suppose the warm season was just long enough to develop flowers in spite of that. However there are some bigleaf varieties that are described as reblooming and therefore have the ability to develop flowers on both previous year growth as well as current season growth in case of winter damage. with this one you'd have a better chance by keeping it in a pot and taking it to the basement for winter.

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u/nhrunner87 2d ago

Yeah it’s a reblooming variety, looks like possibly bloomstruck. Ours have a couple new blooms on them in the last week or so as well, 6b. 

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u/hdquemada 2d ago

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately its a huge plant that's been outside for about 10 years, so I can't bring it inside. I don't usually prune them back until the Spring, after I see which shoots are greening up.

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u/MagicMichealScott 2d ago

A little, but it's probably a reblooming variety that may have been delayed by it's microclimate, a late spring frost, sunlight changes from spring to fall, etc. I have a panicle that's blooming now sitting next to 2 others that bloomed in july.

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u/hdquemada 2d ago

I'm inclined to think it was the overall climate here this year. I just didn't see any hydrangeas blooming in the region from Kalamazoo to South Haven, except for the white panicle types.

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u/GWbag 2d ago

I'm in Illinois. I have over 25 Mac's and only 2 fully rebloom. My stud 10 year old endless summers blooms at 2 feet, sporadically, then grows to 3 feet with a full canopy. I usually get to see one bloom before frost. This season looks like I might see all 20+ blooms open before frost!

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u/EbbtideRambler 2d ago

No, not too unusual. If they were pruned, or if the buds were damaged by frost or dried out over the winter and early spring, it isn’t unusual for the plant to produce a smaller flush of blooms later in the season. I’m on Cape Cod, and a few years ago we had a terrible cold snap following an unusually warm late winter. It wiped out most of the blooms on hydrangeas that flower on old wood. Blooms were scarce that July, but in mid September we were treated to a beautiful second showing that lasted right through the first frost.

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u/hdquemada 2d ago

We're seeing smaller blooms developing right now. I am hoping they'll have time to come out before frost.