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!

Now that you have completed cutting back your new wood blooming hydrangeas, it's time to look at what's happening with your old wood plants. Which ones are these? Your old wood plants include hydrangea macrophylla (big leaf), hydrangea serrata (mountain), hydrangea quercifolia (oak leaf) and hydrangea petiolaris (climbing) . Even if your plant is a rebloomer it retains old wood flower power and buds can be there that formed on last year's growth. 

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.

It’s just about time to start the gardeners’ spring ritual of pruning. We have had a few teaser days of 50 degrees but where I live in Connecticut the footing hasn’t been safe enough to go out and do much. But it has been a good time to get things ready. I have been reading about people in the warmer areas of the country doing some pruning and although it makes me a little envious, I know enough not to rush the season. Even though we are in March, I recall last year how much snow we had in March 2018 so I can be patient a little while longer. If it's too early to get outdoors and prune for you too, here's what I would suggest. Get your tools in order. A good cleaning, oiling, and sharpening now will pay dividends later on. Make sure you have a good pair of gloves, a tarp, a bypass pruner as shown in the photo, a lopper, disinfectant spray, and/or anti-bacterial wipes at the ready. BYPASS PRUNERS THE BASIC TOOLS FOR HYDRANGEA PRUNING   ...

Not everywhere. If your hydrangeas live in warm parts of the U.S. and Europe , and the spirit moves you, you can consider pruning your new wood bloo ming hydrangeas now . It's hard to conceive of that when you live where I do as we stare down yet another frigid blast of cold air over the next few days. But for those gardeners in places like Arkansas , Atlanta , and parts of the UK , your new wood bloo mers can be cut back now .