madgardener wrote in
:

On Jan 19, 3:25*pm, Zootal wrote:
I noticed today that my hydrangeas are budding out and starting to
grow. It's mid January, and we have had colder than usual weather,
yet there th
ey
go. And the tulips are pushing up through the ice and mud. I don't
rememb
er
them growing so early in previous years. Any hydrangea experts know
when they normally will start growing? I haven't even got around to
pruning th
em
yet, didn't think they would bud out for another month or two.

if you don't want flowers on your hydrangea's then prune them. The
only way you can safely prune them and not sacrifice blossoms is to
prune them after they bloom in the late spring or early summer. not
sure where you're gardening, but here in my zone 7b climate, where
we've gotten sub-zero winds and single digit temperatures last week, I
too have seen buds on my variegated hydrangea. I'm not panicking. This
is planted on the NORTH side of my house, and the buds seem fine.
Another problem though that I see is my Korean Spice Viburnum has
bloomed one cluster of buds when I wasn't aware of it before the deep
freeze, as I found yesterday the remains of the partially opened bud
cluster. Rats. It's planted in direct hard Eastern sunlight, which
gets good Southern exposure as well as indirect western light in the
front edge of the garden where we live now. I may move it before sap
rises to another spot in the front yard where it won't get so much
direct sunlight. The main reason I planted it was specifically for
the highly fragrant flower clusters. Give your hydrangea time to wow
you. Hydrangea start seriously growing once true spring hits. For me,
it was in late March, mid April. And if you MUST prune, at least wait
for the true leaves to show and the real dead portions of the plant to
reveal itself once the leaves are out. If you go around your yard,
you'll see EVERYTHING has pre-Spring buds just waiting for the real
warmth to come and stay, not just false spring temperatures. Where are
you gardening? That also makes a difference.
madgardener seeing little green "tongues" of spring bulbs coming up as
well

I've got tulips 2-3 inches tall. A few daffodils next to the house are
8" tall. My Lilacs have been budding since mid December. We had a week
of weather in the 50's. Now it's down to the 30's. Spring is around the
corner indeed, and Winter isn't even half over.