Oak Leaf Hydrangea

[terrielacy]

Recently a friend gave me an oak leaf hydrangea as a gift. It needs to be planted, but now that it is in the freezing temps, should I move it into the garage for the winter? Or go ahead an plant it now?

 

[Reinbeau]

Recently a friend gave me an oak leaf hydrangea as a gift. It needs to be planted, but now that it is in the freezing temps, should I move it into the garage for the winter? Or go ahead an plant it now?

Terrrielacy, where are you? Is the ground frozen so you can't dig? It would be much better to get it into the ground. Once it's in water it thoroughly and mulch. The mulch will help the soil around the plant stay a little unfrozen for just that much longer. If the ground is frozen then try to keep the plant in a cool spot, the garage may be right, depending on your location. Get it into the ground ASAP in the spring.

 

[poppycat]

Go ahead and plant it now. I'm in the same zone as you and it will be just fine. Give it a good dose of mulch around the base.

Since I've lived in the Willamette valley the ground has yet to really freeze to the point where it would damage that plant. Of course now that I've told you to plant it, it will.

But seriously I think it would be worse off in your garage. If you plant it now, it will have all of the rest of the winter to build up a good root system the help it out during the dry season, which is much more of a stress on that plant than the cold is.

 

[Buff Shallots]

I agree with Poppycat. Plant it now, water it in well, but then just mulch it and keep an eye on it for wilting or wind drying.

Even though it's cold, the roots will still grow in some, and you'll save the plant from planting trauma in the spring.