"burnt" leaves

My nikko blues got a little too much sun, and the edges of some of the leaves are brown and crispy -- a very few are halfway gone. There are two of them, and they were in separate pots and I've replanted them into one huge pot and moved them and they seem to be fine, but should I trim the leaves? Pick them entirely? Leave well enough alone? There are new leaves and some blooms are starting to peek out, so the plants themselves are fine. Thanks!

I would just let them be, brigidlily. The plants are now having to deal with hot temperatures, lack of moisture in the air, drying winds and, of course, transplant shock. Sounds pretty stressful to me so I vote to keep the leaves and let the plant make good use of them.

If you decide to prune, do it before month end; flower buds for 2007 develop between August-October.

Check for wilting daily during their first two weeks. And water if you hear of any wind advisories.

Good luck with your plants,
Luis

Thanks for the input, Luis. I've just been watering them (with rainwater instead of tap when I can get it) and they seem basically to be in good shape.

There is one partial blossom right now -- maybe 3-4 florets on it. I see no other little group forming. This is the first year I've had them. Would you recommend pruning? Light or heavy? Or leave them be until next year? I have a good article on how to do it, so I'm not worried about that. Just the advisability of doing it at all.

Thanks!

Ann

I would just let them be. In general terms, I find only two reasons to ever prune hydrangeas: 1) practical reasons or 2) to rejuvenate an old macrophylla. These plants keep their shape very well, continue to grow more stems with minimal fertilization and require no winter protection in our zone. A newly transplanted hydrangea may pout and have reduced flowering but just about any other plant will also do the same under those conditions.

For example, I finally did some pruning after flowering last year. The plant was growing into a walkway that leads into the front door and was forcing visitors to walk around a few of the stems. Because I cut two stems in the Fall, they produced no flowers the following year. But there were so many other stems that flowered anyway that I did not notice it.

Luis

I'll leave it be for now, then. Thanks! It's such a gorgeous plant.