Time to report on winter's impact on my hydrangeas . In early May, I went out to my Zone 5 garden to see what winter had done to my hydrangeas that bloom on old wood: macrophyllas (big leaf) and hydrangea serrata s (mountain). I also checked on the quercifolias (oak leaf) and petiolaris (climbing).  But we had a very cool and wet spring and this inspection tour was too early for our delayed season. 

Climbing Hydrangea on Arbor  If you’re lucky enough to have a climbing hydrangea (hydrangea anomala petiolaris ), you already know what a fabulous plant it is. And right now it is in its glory in my zone 5B garden. The fact that it grows in shade and is drought tolerant makes it doubly attractive. And in my little slice of heaven, deer have avoided it for 28 years.   The beautiful lacecap flowers are once again dependably in full view. Not only are they beautiful but they are perfuming the garden. Since I have it planted in several places, its non-stop scent practically follows me around. Climbing Hydrangea Flower It’s not uncommon to see this shade loving vine draping arbors and adorning walls. It works really well climbing a tree which does the tree no harm. It’s also a plant you can use as a groundcover. The glossy foliage will scramble over anything in its way. An unsightly tree stump for example is one such eyesore you can make disappear. Know, howeve...

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.