Hydrangeas..stunning!

Hydrangeas are seriously the easiest plant to grow. Throw them in the ground with some good quality soil...I use Seasoil. They have an incredible showing for much of the summer in all colours and sizes. This year, I fed my entire garden in May for the first time. I usually feed throughout the summer months but that is it. I used a kelp spray and everything seems to have loved it. The colours this year are more vibrant and every single one of my hydrangeas are growing like crazy. I have no idea if the colours are more vibrant because of the early feeding but it is the only thing that I changed. I also prune hydrangeas in the beginning of the season. I try to follow the individual plant instructions but honestly, I often hack away when I am not happy with something. Ok...I lovingly trim!
I have some rules that I always follow with hydrangeas. First, they need air to flow about them. In order to achieve that I make sure that the flowers and branches are not lying on the ground. This can be a challenge because they keep growing. With many of the hydrangeas, I try to achieve a shape like a bouquet of flowers. Some of my newer plants like the Oak leaf hydrangea and the Ayesha hydrangeas simply do not allow for that shape but I still keep the air flow going.
Secondly, I wait until the spring to dead head them. We love to see the dried heads all winter long. It just adds something to the winter garden.
Thirdly, I never cut a branch back hard if I will be upset come the flowering season. I experiment with each plant so that I know what works best for each and every one.
Lastly, I always trim every branch to just above a new bud. Seems safer that way!
This year, I will be trimming back the mop-heads harder then usual as the are enormous and I want to see how they react. I will also re-read all of their instructions.
I have lacecap, mophead, Annabelle, Oakleaf and PeeGee hydrangeas.
Now for pictures. Simply glorious.

This is a white Annabelle. The largest head so far is 13". Incredible.

As you can see from the picture, the heads go from white to green. In a flower arrangement they are exceptional.

 This is a close up of an Ayesha hydrangea. It is like the lilac flower of hydrangeas. Really interesting.

Another Ayesha but it is pink and is a later bloomer then the blue one.

This is an enormous lace cap. It is blue and fades to a lavender.

Lots more to come in my next post!