Ok, Ok go ahead...
You've been asking me for months,so finally I can say yes. If your
hydrangeas look like this, it's ok to trim those dead stems off of the top now. Hydrangeas are one of those plants that blooms on the branches that grew last year. So if you cut them any time after last September, (Labor day is probably a good cut off date) you probably, at least, reduced the number of flowers for this summer. But stems like these, if they're not sprouting by now, probably never will, so go ahead and cut. By the way, I never understood the obsession with pruning hydrangeas. Nobody says you have to cut them at all. Do you want cut flowers? Go ahead. Is the plant too big? Fine. You're not hurting anything permanently, just possibly removing buds that will one day flower. If you do cut, remember no cutting after Labor Day. Tell your landscaper too! Don't forget, if your planting the new Endless Summer Hydrangea, it blooms on this years branches and last years branches, so even if you (or your landscaper) screw it up, you'll still get at least some flowers. |
Well, if you must know, it's probably Crape Myrtle, but since we can't really grow those around here, I'd have to say Kousa Dogwood. You wouldn't know it, but those beautiful flowers aren't flowers at all, they're bracts. Bracts are basically leaves. The flower is a small cluster in the center of the cluster of four bracts and this is why dogwoods seem to "flower" for so long. (Another familiar plant that behaves this way is the poinsettia.) And this is why I love Kousa dogwood. It has a neat variation in the flower color from white to pink and it blooms for a really long time at a nice time of year. Life's too short to be looking at only leaves for 50 weeks of the year. We've got a great selection of Kousas available for planting right now.
Buy one of our 8' - 10' premium Kousa Dogwood trees NOW and we'll plant if for free!(Offer ends Father's Day) |
