I like to leave the dead flowers on until mid autumn, I think it can prevent diseases entering through wounds in the summer,
I then prune about four inches off all the summer growth. How about you?
Jon
When do you dead head
My hydrangeas go dormant around November or December so I either wait until then or I deadhead when I do the roses in February or March. I just deadhead though. I do not prune 4 inches off. I prune before the start of July.
This message was edited Aug 18, 2009 8:38 PM
I'm not very consistent--sometimes I'll get around to garden cleanup in the fall and I'll deadhead then, but other times it'll be spring before I get to it. I also just deadhead and wouldn't trim 4 inches of summer growth off in the fall--except for 'Pinky Winky' all my hydrangeas are macrophyllas that only bloom on old wood, so fall is not the right time to do any pruning.
I do about the same as ecrane3. I'm not all that happy with the 'Pinky Winky'. This is the second year for it here. It blooms very, very well, but I don't get any of the pinky part. The older sepals just brown. They dont age red or pink. The shrub gets nearly full sun, regular watering and a light 10-10-10 in the spring. The blooms are large.
You're one step ahead of me--mine hasn't bothered to give me a single bloom yet. It's only the second year in the ground and we had a very dry first half of winter last year and I tend to be rather forgetful about watering the garden when the weather's not hot which I'm sure didn't help it, so I guess it's probably my fault I didn't get at least a flower or two this year. Hopefully next year will be better--otherwise it's a much bigger water hog than the rest of my garden so if I'm not impressed with its blooms then it's getting pulled out!
Interesting, my macrophillas are well nigh six feet tall. I don't prune this years non flowering shoots only the older
flowering wood in late October.
Jon
I deadhead in the winter when I set up protection. I do cut some as they age if the color interests me to dry and use for decoration.
I did shear Annabelle this year because the blooms dried perfectly on the plant and I wanted them to spray.
I don't need to protect for winter but two or three hours of morning sun is a problem, causing the flowers on the east side to burn and go brown. I do like the idea of painting the flowers for winter decoration, I will try that this year!
Jon
Astilbe looks nice when spray painted, too.
