Endless summer hydrangea problems

[belinda_mayer]

Four - five years ago I purchased an endless summer hydrangea. The tag said it blooms on new and old wood but every year the plant starts all its growth fresh from the root like a perennial. Nothing grows on the old wood, they look like dead branches. It originally was planted on the north side of my house where it got morning sun. I moved it to a different location but it's the same. I was hoping for a shrub that continued its growth year after year instead of starting over again from the root. This past winter I covered it with a shrub cover from Lee Valley thinking it didn't like the Ottawa winter but that doesn't seem to have had any effect.

Anyone else have this issue or have better luck with this shrub?

Thanks,
Belinda

[B_BQ]

I've had mine for about the same length of time.
I always think mine has not made it through the winter, but then it starts to produce from the base only. I'm always convinced that the stalks are dead, but then suddenly growth appears on the stems. This is what is happening to mine right now. I can take a pic if you like. There is growth from the base and now there is new growth along the stems.
~BBQ

[Dumbo]

I wouldn't mind seeing it, if possible. No rush, whenever you can swing it.

[B_BQ]

Here's a quick pic I took this morning.

The first one is Endless Summer I believe:

And this one, right alongside, is another hydrangea, (can't recall the name), that has the flat, open, hand-sized pink flowers:

As you can see, they're both growing from the ground, but the 'sticks' are now starting to show signs of growth.
Yes, they are a bit unsightly, but the base growth gets bigger every year. The 'sticks' won't even be visible in another week or so.
~BBQ

[DonnaZn2SK]

They're selling that here in zone 2b, but I can't see it surviving (or blooming) unless it's protected for the winter or in a microclimate of a sort. I have Pinky Winky and it comes back every year and blooms, but it's not as showy as the Endless Summer.

[davefrombc]

About 20 years ago I bought my mother two potted hydrangeas for Mothers Day.
They had the largest blooms I'd ever seen on a hydrangea at the time.
When they were finished blooming , Dad planted them in front of the house (facing west). One didn't survive the winter , but the other did and has continued to grow and spread since. Last winter beat it up pretty bad, as have a couple of winters over the years; but it has always survived and managed to spread.
Here is a picture of the dead wood I had to cut out this spring ,

and here is one from when it was in full bloom.

It won't be quite so nice this summer, but will still have a lot of blooms on it .
The shrub to the right of and behind the hydrangea is a yellow flowering scented azalea.

[kelly_m]

With the weird spring we've had here in Ontario....you could just have been hit with the late cold sanp and frost that hapned after March....

My Big Daddy had the same problem....supposed to bloom leaf on old wood. Well it did...start to..in March....then we got cold, frost, snow.....And everything shriveled up and died....the branches started looking dead....but I got LOTS of new growth at the base. When i cut back the "dead" bits there was still a bit of green stuff, but....I guess I wasn't patient enough!! LOL

[Eeyore]

Patience is what I was going to suggest. From the photos the tops don't look dead so they might just be slow leafing out.

[Dumbo]

TY for posting the pic, B_BQ (Arrrr).

[belinda_mayer]

Thanks for the pictures everyone, mine looks the same without the buds forming on the old wood. I will wait and be more patient.

I am amazed by the pictures davefrombc posted, beautiful!