Hydrangea Question

[junkyardcat]

I have several Nikko Blue Hydrangea plants. We had a hard freeze about a month and a half ago, and all of my plants turned brown and crispy (in other words, they look dead). Are they dead, or is that the way they look in the Winter? If I cut them to the ground now, will they come back up in the Spring?

Thanks for your help:) Angie

[Stephen Henning]

That is normal. Nikko Blue Hydrangea is a type of Hydrangea macrophylla. Macrophylla and quercifolia (oakleaf) bloom on last years wood. Don't cut them back until after they bloom. They bloom on old wood. They should be pruned immediately after flowering or not at all! When pruning just cut out the old stalks that just finished blooming.

[vincent p. norris]

Can you tell me why my hydrangea, which I think is that type, blooms only once every five or six or seven years? I don't prune it, but I break off the dried sticks each spring when the rest of the plant has leafed out and it's obvious those dry sticks will not.

When it does bloom, it's gorgeous.

Thanks. vince norris

[John Wheeler]