Why are my Hydrangea leaves going floppy?

Question

I live in Munich, Germany, and have had my hydrangea for several years. It happily moved from the UK (South East) to Munich and survived two winters and a summer. However, this year I decided to move its position on my south-east-facing balcony into a more shaded area - last year it got a bit sunburnt (new to me!). It used to see no morning sun, but a lot of midday to afternoon sun.

Since moving it into the 'shade' it sees morning light for a few hours, and no afternoon light. In the last week almost 50% of the leaves have wilted and become floppy. They are discoloured a darker green, and won't hold their shape.

How do I fix this, and why did it happen?

Answer 1

That does look like frost damage on the new leaves; it may be that its new situation is a bit colder than where it was before, so I'd move it back to where it was and switch it into the less sunny area later on, when the weather warms up. It is quite early for a Hydrangea to be leafing out, April is the more usual time in cool northern climes, but when they do leaf out early, frost damage is a common problem. It should put out new leaves as the weather improves.

Ongoing, if the plant does not grow as usual and looks quite stunted into the growing season, it probably will need a larger pot...