Question

I have bought the Blushing Brides online. When receiving the plant, I found some dead spots on almost all leaves. I have asked the staff and they replied it is not the disease. It is only because of high humidity during the transportation. However, I have no experience with this situation. Because I have other Endless Summer collections in my yard, I want to make sure this will not infect my other plants.

Answer

Mail order plants do go through quite a bit of stress with packing and shipping. Your hydrangea has good branching and should recover fine. As the leaves drop off for fall, I would gather them up and throw them away rather than composting them. Next year, your hydrangea should leaf out just fine. To keep the leaves clean of black spot next year, be certain to water at the base rather than getting the leaves wet with overhead watering. Take a look at our planting and care guide for information on selecting the best site, soil preparation, watering, pruning, and overwintering. Avoid fertilizing this late in the year as you don’t want to encourage new growth going into winter.