Skip to main content

Endless summer hydrangeas will keep your garden colorful all year – a complete care guide

How to care for your endless summer hydrangeas

Purple and blue hydrangeas
Kathryn Roach / Shutterstock

Spring is the season when gardens really come to life. There are some flowers that bloom in the fall, but the majority of flowers begin blooming in spring and finish over the summer. Wouldn’t it be nice for your garden to stay colorful year-round? By planting endless summer hydrangeas, you can enjoy bright hydrangea flowers well after most hydrangea flowers have dried up. Here’s what you need to know to grow these stunning flowers.

Recommended Videos

Difficulty

Easy

Duration

1 hour

What You Need

  • Soil pH testing kit

  • Compost

  • Garden sulfur, garden lime, or wood ash (optional)

  • Pruning shears

  • Insecticidal soap or neem oil

A shady hydrangea garden
dk tazunoki / Shutterstock

What makes the endless summer hydrangea unique?

Hydrangeas are known for their large, bright flowers, which are lovely on the plant or as cut flowers. The color of hydrangea flowers is influenced by the soil pH as well. These facts are true of the endless summer hydrangea, but it has a few additional benefits.

Endless summer hydrangeas have a higher cold tolerance than other hydrangea varieties. While they prefer warm weather, you can grow these hydrangeas as far north as USDA Hardiness Zone 4. As their name implies, they also have long-lasting flowers and are repeat bloomers. This means your plant will continue to put out new flowers from spring into early fall.

Blue, pink, and purple hydrangea flowers
A_Knop / Pixabay

Planting endless summer hydrangeas

To start your endless summer hydrangeas off right, here's how to plant them:

Step 1: Place them where they will get morning sun and afternoon shade.

Step 2: Use loamy, well-draining soil.

Step 3: Check the soil pH to determine flower color.

Acidic soil will produce blue flowers, alkaline soil will make pink flowers, and neutral soil will produce purple flowers.

Step 4: Amend the soil with compost and additives to change the soil pH.

If you want a certain flower color, you can change the soil pH. Be careful not to change the pH too much, as a drastic shift will harm the surrounding plants. Add garden sulfur for more acidic soil and garden lime or wood ash for more alkaline soil.

Light blue and pink hydrangea flowers
HelgaKa / Pixabay

Caring for endless summer hydrangeas

Once your hydrangeas are planted, here’s how to care for them:

Step 1: Keep the soil moist but not soaking wet.

Step 2: Water below the leaves to reduce the risk of anthracnose.

Anthracnose is a fungal infection that is caused by water on the leaves, stems, and fruits of certain plants, including tomatoes, cucumbers, and hydrangeas.

Step 3: Prune your hydrangeas rarely and only in spring.

Pruning later in the year means your hydrangeas will spend more time regrowing stems and less time flowering.

Step 4: Watch for damage from slugs, beetles, aphids, and scale.

Insecticidal soap and neem oil are effective treatments for these pests.

Step 5: Remove wilted or dead flowers with pruning shears to make room for new flowers to grow.

If you want a garden bursting with color all year long, then endless summer hydrangeas would make a great addition. They aren’t difficult to grow, and they flower for longer than other hydrangea varieties. Now that you know all about planting and caring for them, you’re ready to add these delightful flowers to your garden!

Topics
Cayla Leonard
Cayla Leonard is a writer from North Carolina who is passionate about plants.  She enjoys reading and writing fiction and…
Butterfly bushes 101: A complete guide for gardeners
Grow your own beautiful butterfly bushes
Butterflies on butterfly bush

Creating a beautiful pollinator garden isn’t just good for the environment -- it can also be a wonderful sight! When spring arrives, stepping out into your garden to see it full of butterflies and hummingbirds can be a great source of joy. There are many plants you can grow to attract butterflies, but one of the most popular is the aptly named butterfly bush, or Buddleja davidii.

If you want to add butterfly bushes to your yard or garden, then this is the guide for you. We’ll walk you through everything you need to know to keep your butterfly bush happy and healthy.
Planting butterfly bushes

Read more
Add beauty to your garden with these stunning spring flowering shrubs
Shrubs that enhance your garden with lovely spring flowers
A forsythia bush with yellow flowers

Shrubs fill a unique role in the ecosystem. They provide shelter and food for birds and pollinators in areas where there isn’t enough room for trees, they help prevent erosion with their roots, and it doesn’t hurt that they’re often quite pretty. If you’re looking for a few spring flowering shrubs to add to your garden, you’re in the right place. Whether you want to grow your own hedge or simply fill out a few empty spots in your yard, one of these spring flowering shrubs is sure to be a great fit.
Hydrangea

Some of the most popular hydrangea species bloom in summer, like the endless summer hydrangea. However, there are plenty of spring-blooming hydrangeas too. Bigleaf and oakleaf hydrangeas both bloom in early to mid-spring, with oakleaf hydrangeas growing white flowers and bigleaf hydrangeas available in white, blue, pink, and purple.

Read more
Purple plants that will make your garden pop this season
Want more purple in your garden? Try these gorgeous plants and flowers
A field of lavender flowers

Purple is a popular color when it comes to flowers, and it's easy to see why. With lighter shades that can relax and soothe you, darker shades that add depth, and bright purples that are exciting and cheery, there is a purple flower for any garden. For flower bed layering, purple blooms can brighten shady gardens or add depth to a vibrant one, depending on the shade of purple. Whether you're looking for a single purple flower to round out your garden or want to dedicate an entire garden to your favorite color, here are the purple flowers you should look for!
Lavender

We couldn’t write a list of purple plants and not include lavender! Lavender is an incredibly hardy plant that's typically perennial in climate zones 5 through 9. Its delicate purple blooms and calming fragrance are highlights of its appeal, but they aren’t the only ones. Lavender is also an easy plant to take care of.

Read more