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Apr 08, 2020 Hydrangea by: Jacki Cammidge, Certified Horticulturist Hydrangeas in pots are sold at certain times of year, and the ones sold around Easter are flowering at the wrong time of year. They usually flower in the summer. These are 'forced' in a difficult and impeccably timed sequence of warmth, light (both levels and daylength) to get them to bloom on this schedule. They are identical to the garden variety of Hydrangea so they'll grow perfectly well in your garden if you follow a few rules. Keep in mind that hydrangeas are not a tidy little plant. They will have been sprayed, as part of the forcing process, with a chemical that stunts the growth. So what you see here may not be what you eventually get. As these have been forced to bloom outside of their natural season, they'll be stressed out. They most likely will take at least a year to recover. Plant them in a nursery bed once the danger of frost is over, and cut the flowers off. If you don't, all the plants strength will go into making the flowers into seeds. When you plant them, try to take off most of the soil they're growing in. This allows them to adapt to your garden soil. I've seen plants that if this isn't done, will just continue to coil the roots around and around in the shape of the pot. Keep the plant shaded with a screen, or in the shade of trees for the first summer season. The following spring, you can move the now established plant to where it will grow for the rest of its life.

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