Ladies and Gentlemen, We Have Hydrangeas!

Yes it’s another flower photo, but bear with me on this one and let me explain.

I love the look of a well-groomed yard, but admittedly don’t know plants from weeds and am not big on digging in the dirt. I’ve been working with a landscaper over the past several years in what has become known as the Lawn Beautification Program. In his infinite horticultural wisdom, he confirmed that money indeed does not grow on trees.  (Darn ... I was hoping that one wasn’t a fallacy.)  So, instead of doing the entire yard in one fell swoop, I’ve only been able to work on portions at a time. Phase II of the LBP contains three hydrangeas. They looked oh so lovely the first year, but I didn’t learn all the ins and outs of these flowering beauties until it was too late.

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as “no maintenance” plants, so I had to go with the “low maintenance” variety. Evidently, the type of hydrangea I have is a mophead, which blooms on old wood. “Old wood” are stems that have been on the hydrangea since the summer before the current season. “New wood” are stems that develop on the plant during the current season. This type of plant produces flower buds on the stems in August, September or October, which will bloom the following summer. If those stems are pruned in the fall, winter or spring, the bloom buds will be removed, and there may be little or no bloom the following summer. In actuality, mophead hydrangeas don’t ever have to be pruned back unless they’re very old; removing dead stems is the only maintenance that should be done for the health of the plant.

So last fall I got a bit overzealous with “maintenance” and started pruning before doing my research (also known as back-asswards gardening). I cut those babies all the way to the ground. Oops! I thought for sure I had murdered them and would be pulling out their carcasses this spring, but a friend more well-versed in flower matters assured me the plants would come back, though they would not bloom. I was elated to discover this summer has indeed produced three healthy green plants, albeit sans blooms. Or so I thought.

Imagine my surprise when, while pulling weeds (that would be the “low maintenance” portion of maintaining flower beds), I found a bloom on one of the plants! Definitely an unexpected pleasure and what I’ve dubbed the rebel bloom … the one that doesn’t follow the rules.

Now that I’m a bit wiser about hydrangea maintenance, there should be a lot more blooms on my plants next year. Just to be safe, though, I’m knocking on—not pruning—old wood. If all else fails, my next boyfriend is going to be a gardener!