If Your Hydrangeas Are Exploding With Gorgeous Blooms This Year, This Is Why

Even when you find the best spot in your garden to plant hydrangeas, some years they just don't bloom as well. Luckily, this year's hydrangeas have been absolutely thriving in the United States, particularly in the Northeast. This is likely due to the weather conditions over the last year. During winters where the temperatures constantly move up and down, freezes happen late in the season, and it's bitter cold, hydrangeas can suffer damage. This is why hydrangeas may not always bloom as expected. This past winter was rather mild, and according to the National Centers for Environmental Information, the average annual temperature in the U.S. in 2023 was 2.4 degrees Fahrenheit higher than normal.

Because winter and the start of spring weren't as harsh this year, hydrangeas buds had a better chance of surviving the winter unscathed, allowing them to bloom more intensely this year. Other environmental factors, such as the amount of rain, has also helped ensure stunning hydrangea blooms in 2024.

A lack of rain or moisture in the soil is a common reason for these flowers to struggle to bloom, even if you know how to grow and take care of hydrangeas. Thankfully, that wasn't the case this past year. In 2023, rainfall was higher than average throughout much of the Northeast, but particularly throughout Connecticut, Vermont, and Maine. Additionally, January of 2024 saw more precipitation than average across the United States and more so in the East, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information.

Mark Richardson, Director of Horticulture for the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill, told Spectrum News how these wet seasons have affected hydrangeas. "Hydrangea macrophylla are the common blue hydrangea we think of. They are particularly sensitive to moisture in soil, so we're seeing a lot more of those flowers in the landscape this year as a direct result of having all that moisture last year," Richardson said. Between the additional rain and the warmer weather this past year, hydrangeas had all the conditions needed to help them grow larger blossoms and more of them.