annabelle blooming like crazy - if i prune now...

will it be a bad idea?

I have two or maybe three annabelle hydrangeas blooming like mad under some dogwoods - and of course, they are very floppy after the recent rains - if I cut it back, will it rebloom? or should I just prop it up?

thanks,

L

They do bloom on new wood so it's OK to prune them in the spring unlike many other hydrangeas, but I think it may be too late in the year now. If you cut them back now I don't think they'll put out new blooms. Could be wrong though, I've never tried it this time of year.

I don't believe, from my experience, that the Annabelle will put out new blooms, after you cut these off.
I would suggest supporting them, instead.

I'm also wondering about them being so "floppy"? How far back to you cut them, in early Spring?
I've found that if I cut the stems back to about three inches in early to Mid-March that I have very little drooping, even with a loaded plant.

This year, tho,I did lose about 3/4 of my new growth with a late freeze!
That's the first time that's happened, thank goodness.

Hope this helps some.
Sasha

thanks, idid cut them back pretty far and they are just amazing - will post a photo as soon as i find my camera cable :) - but we;ve been getting some big storms and they just flop. I did support them this morning

thanks, as always, for the advice, DGers!

I am excited to here all this annabelle talk ! My sister just gave me a stick of annabelle it is in a pot and I want to leave it there untill we get some work done on our deck so it doesn't get damaged. Any advise about what it likes? in terms of light ect.
laura

My Annabelle looked beautiful until the rain beat it down. Some branches were bent/broken. So I trimmed it up. The ones I didn't trim are still droopy. I don't remember if I cut it back this spring or if I left the stems as they were last fall. I'm guessing I didn't prune back.