The Best Hydrangea For Growing In Pots, According To The Grumpy Gardener

About This Episode

It’s all about hydrangeas this week with Grumpy’s timeless tips, expert growing advice, and more.

Question Of The Week

"I planted a limelight hydrangea in a nice pot. The next year, it refused to bloom or even grow much. Could the hydrangea be a heavy feeder or is it a mystery? I live in South Carolina."- Jane

Grumpy's Answer: I suspect that your Limelight hydrangea is growing in a pot that is too small. It's a vigorous shrub and it needs a pot at least 16 inches wide with plenty of room for the roots. There's a compact version of it called Little Limelight that would probably be a better choice for container. Neither one of them is a heavy feeder when planted in the ground, but because plants and containers need frequent watering, much of the nutrients get washed out when you do.

Therefore, for limelights or anything else that you have in a container, like a shrub, I recommend feeding according to label directions in spring and summer with a slow-release fertilizer. Some ones that I use are Espoma Plant-tone or Dynamite All-Purpose Plant Food because they are slow release and feed over a period of weeks. Also, if you're having problems with flowering, put the pot in the sun. This kind of hydrangea likes full sun.

Plant Of The Week

Pop Star Hydrangea

New hydrangeas show up every week in the garden center, but one of them called Pop Star stands out for me. It's the latest in an addition to the Endless Summer series of re-blooming hydrangeas. And the reason I like it is because it checks so many boxes:

1. It blooms from early summer into the fall.
2. It's lace-cap flowers, which are blue or pink according to the soil pH, attract pollinators much better than mop-head hydrangea flowers do.
3. It grows about 18 to 36 inches wide, so it's great for planting in mixed borders and containers.
4. The only pruning you ever have to do is cutting off stems and branches that fail to leaf out the following spring.
   

About Ask Grumpy

Ask Grumpy is a podcast featuring Steve Bender, also known as Southern Living’s Grumpy Gardener. For more than 30 years, Grumpy has been sharing advice on what to grow, when to plant, and how to manage just about anything in your garden. Tune in for short episodes every Wednesday and Saturday as Grumpy answers reader questions, solves seasonal conundrums, and provides need-to-know advice for gardeners with his very Grumpy sense of humor. Be sure to follow Ask Grumpy on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen so you don't miss an episode.

Editor’s Note: Please be mindful that this transcript does not go through our standard editorial process and may contain inaccuracies and grammatical errors.