Question
My climbing hydrangea is 8 years old. We live Coastal Georgia. It gets medium shade. A garden center recommended this spot. It's healthy but has never bloomed. Any suggestions to make it bloom?

Answer
Hi, Deb -
Climbing hydrangea is a fabulous flowering vine, but it takes a long time to establish itself. That said, you should have started seeing some blooms within the last year or two, as most specimens flower within about 5 - 7 years of planting.  Climbing hydrangeas like northeastern exposures, and they can't stand being in containers - yours is in the ground, I hope!  The fact that your foliage is healthy is a good sign; clearly, the vine is ready for it's big moment!! As for lack of blooming, there are only two things that I can think of to suggest: (1) It may just be that your "medium" shade is actually too shady.  While they don't like all-day direct sun, climbing hydrangeas do need at 2 -3 hours of sun a day for good flowering.  It may just be that judiciously trimming back any of the shrubs/trees that shade your specimen might help, it possible. (2) You might try a touch of fertilizer - one that is higher in phosphorous than nitrogen.  (On the fertilizer bag or bottle, there should be three numbers - the first is for Nitrogen, the second for Phosphorous, and the third is for Potassium) -- make sure the middle number is higher than the first.  High Nitrogen produces lots of foliage, while high Phosphorous will help flowering. It's a bit late in the season to experiment with the fertilizer approach; I would try it in the Fall (late October/early November before the ground freezes) and a repeat application in March or so.  Also, I always recommend mixing fertilizers on the "weak" side of what the bottle/bag actually recommends, just to be safe.  It's easy to over-fertilize hydrangeas.  
Keep me posted, Deb, and good luck to you!