by Cate Kulak

Created on: April 12, 2010   Last Updated: April 13, 2010

Hydrangeas are best known for the spectacular display their flowers provide.  Every cultivar delivers at least a two, if not three, seasons show of blooms and foliage. Flowers arrive in large, showy cluster of small, five petalled flowers, in different colors and at different times, depending on the specific shrub.  Different cultivars cover a range of zones, with different light preferences and foliage. With just a minimum of care, any cultivar is a sure garden bet.

Do your research ahead of time, and choose the right hybrid.  Growing hydrangeas is like carpentry; you are best off measuring twice and cutting once. Be certain of your USDA hardiness zone, the amount of sunlight in your desired location and when you would most like the shrub to bloom and research to find the right cultivar. If it is easier to find the perfect cultivar in a friend's garden than at a nursery, "borrow" a couple of cuttings, and create your own shrub with the use of rooting hormone. While this method requires a little more patience for the shrub to get to size, hydrangeas are easy to start from cuttings, and it will be worth it to have your perfect hydrangea in place.

Choose a hydrangea-friendly location. Since few hydrangea do well when overexposed, consider planting the shrub against a wall or near other shrubs, unless the area is otherwise protected from wind. All hydrangeas do best in soil that is moist and well-drained, but different cultivars have different sunlight needs; water and light are the most important things in the life of a plants, so take these into account before digging. To ensure the soil remains well-drained, dig a planting hole a few inches larger than the root ball and mix the  soil with compost or peat moss before filling in around the roots.

Keep the hydrangea well watered during the growing season, without letting the soil get overly moist or muddy.  If your shrub is a Macrophylla varietal, then the blossom color will depend on the soil’s pH level: blue in soil that is naturally acidic and pink in soil that is naturally alkaline. Changing the color of the blossoms is as simple as watering with diluted aluminum sulfate, to make the soil acidic and the flowers blue, or diluted lime, to make the soil alkaline and the blossoms pink.

Prune your hydrangea knowledgeably once in the early spring. It is important to know whether you have a cultivar that blooms on new growth or on the previous year's growth.  If your cultivar blooms on new growth, you can treat your hydrangea as if it were a perennial, and cut it back to six or so inches above the ground.  Hydrangeas that bloom on older growth should be trimmed to just below the last round of blossoms.  Once the spring round of pruning is done, leave the shrub alone, unless you are cutting flowers to bring inside.

Be patient when the hydrangea is newly planted, since some need a couple of years in their new home before they are ready to bloom. Once the hydrangea has started blooming, consider wrapping it for protection when hard winters come. Harsh weather sometimes drives hydrangeas to take a year off from blooming to recover.

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