Light
Morning sun and afternoon shade. Full sun only in the North with plenty of water.
Growing guide · Shrubs
Hydrangea macrophylla
How to grow Bigleaf Hydrangea 'Bailmer'.
Blue or pink. Your soil decides.
- Light
- Part sun
- Water
- High
- Zones
- 4–9
- Size
- 3–5 ft tall and wide
- Spacing
- 3–4 ft apart.
- Pets
- Not pet-safe; keep out of reach
Water
Keep evenly moist. Wilting on a hot afternoon is normal; wilting in the morning means water.
Planting and soil
Plant in spring or fall in rich, moist, well-drained soil. For blue, add aluminum sulfate; for pink, garden lime.
Feeding
A slow-release shrub fertilizer in spring. Low phosphorus helps blue color.
Pruning
Remove dead stems in spring once buds break. Deadhead through summer to push new flowers.
Through the year
Leaves in spring. First flowers in early summer on old stems, then on new stems until frost.
If something's off
No flowers usually means fall pruning or too much shade. Leaf spot in wet summers is cosmetic. Toxic to pets if eaten.
The reblooming mophead.
The first bigleaf hydrangea bred to bloom on both old and new wood, so a hard winter or a bad pruning job doesn't cost you the summer. Big mopheads come blue in acidic soil and pink in alkaline soil.
Why we stock it: Bigleaf hydrangea flowers even in places where winter usually eats the buds.
Bigleaf Hydrangea 'Bailmer'from $79.95 · Arrives alive, or we replace it
Bigleaf Hydrangea 'Bailmer'from $79.95 · Arrives alive, or we replace it