Posts

PRUNING YOUR HYDRANGEAS

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If your hydrangeas live in the milder parts of the U.S. and Europe, and the spirit moves you, you can consider pruning your new wood blooming hydrangeas now. It's hard to conceive of that when you live where I do. Last March we had 3 Nor’easters. Not only did they bury everything, but the snow and ice made the footing much too dangerous to be using sharp tools. On the other hand, we have had an extremely mild February and early March looks to be the same. Exactly which plants am I talking about? The ones that are foolproof and will produce flowers on the stems they will grow this year.
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THE LANGUAGE OF HYDRANGEAS

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Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to learn about the language of hydrangea flowers. We’re talking here about the most popular hydrangea, known as mophead, hortensia, pompom or big leaf. Botanically, it’s Hydrangea macrophylla . Blue mophead hydrangea flowers
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FEELING HYDRANGEA-STARVED?

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Feeling hydrangea-starved? That describes me a week or two ago. Then we had two consecutive days of temps in the 60s. That gave me a terminal case of spring fever! But I knew enough not to rush out and start playing with my hydrangeas. Living in zone 5, there’s a lot of winter still ahead of me. February is right around the corner and then there are the cruel 31 days of March. So what’s a hydrangea-lover to do? 
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Deer Damage on Hydrangeas in Winter

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This is the time of year to be alert to deer damage on hydrangeas. The weather pattern of deep cold, snow, and ice storms has made it increasingly difficult for them to get around and find food sources to sustain life. Deer tracks are the obvious tip off so here's what to look for:    DEER TRACKS IN SNOW: NOTE CLOVEN HOOF
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Preparing Hydrangeas for Winter

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Boy Caught in Snowstorm We have had a few nights where the temps have dropped in to the high 30s, a stark reminder that it’s time to prepare to wrap some of my bigleaf (macrophyllas) and mountain (serratas) hydrangeas for winter. Those that aren't planted in protected locations as I described in my other blog posts,  https://bit.ly/2lRGNlm  and  https://bit.ly/2A8tzZE  need a little help if I want to give them their best chance of having their buds make it through the coming winter to see flowers in 2020.  Exactly what does this mean right now? SHRUB COVERS : something to safely protect the plants from ice and snow, maybe even give them a few degrees of insulation.
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