Cupped leaves on Hydrangea arborescens Are the leaves on your 'Annabelle' hydrangeas stuck to each other? Inspect them and any other hydrangea arborescens you may have like Incrediball ® or Invincibelle ® Spirit. You may notice some leaves cupped together. It looks like the leaves above from my Invincibelle ® Spirit.  Interesting, huh? Don’t panic!

In my April Connecticut garden, the first hydrangeas I'm pruning are the ones that flower on the growth they will put on this year, better known as "new wood." In hydrangea-land, those are hydrangeas arborescens or woodland/smooth hydrangeas like 'Annabelle', or for example any plant that has Incrediball® or Invincibelle® in its name. There are many others. They will all have "arborescens" as the second part of their name. The flowers are round and either white or shades of pink. None are blue and you can't change their color.

The plant "Audrey" from "Little Shop of Horrors" Credit: Wiki Did your hydrangeas whisper "Feed Me" as you admired them today? If not, they should have because it's high time to fertilize your hydrangeas. Although their needs are similar, you fertilize each a bit differently, so let's take them one by one. Your bigleaf hydrangeas ( macrophyllas ) and mountain ( serrata s) should be flowering by now and if they are rebloomers, need encouragement to set up those second set of buds. If they are not rebloomers, they will soon set their buds for next year, so get busy and give them a little love. What might that be? A b asic tree/shrub product with an NPK ratio of 3-1-2, 6-2-4, etc. You might be surprised to learn that rose fertilizer is ideal. Here's just one you might see at a garden center.  Try to avoid using something like 10-10-10 or even 5-5-5. No plant uses nutrients in equal amounts and add...

LAST CALL TO PRUNE NEW WOOD FLOWERING HYDRANGEAS     This is your last call to prune new wood flowering hydrangeas. If you haven't cut back your hydrangeas that bloom on this year's stems -- your new wood bloomers -- you are running out of time. We're talking about 'Annabelle' hydrangeas, and all those beautiful Invincibelle ® Spirits, Incrediballs ® , and other hydrangea arborescens. Don't forget your hydrangea paniculatas like  Quick Fire ® , and Pinky Winky ® .   By now they have broken dormancy just about everywhere and are setting up their flower buds for this year like this 'Annabelle' New wood blooming hydrangeas breaking dormancy should be pruned NOW. or this 'Limelight'. If your hydrangea paniculatas look like this, you better hurry to cut them back!   So get out there and make the right cuts to shape those plants and keep them healthy. BUT, if you can't get around to it with graduations an...

Yes, it's time to prune new wood hydrangeas. Now that it is mid spring and your hydrangeas are dormant or just beginning to leaf out, this is the time to get those clippers out for some of them. When I say some, I mean those that bloom on new wood, the growth they will put on in the current season. In the late fall when they still have their leaves, wait until they are leafless and have gone completely dormant before you cut them. You can also do this pruning in winter when they are fast asleep. It is critical for pruning new wood hydrangeas that you wait until all growth has stopped in the current year. That's because pruning always stimulates a plant. If you prune while there are still leaves on that plant, it will continue to grow and possibly start producing the buds for flowers you want next year. That means in a cold winter climate those flowers might not survive and you will be the one to blame for that. Just wait it out and let the plan...