Snip, snip. Oops. Be careful with those hydrangeas.

Frustration is quick to set in when those would-be beautiful blooms aren’t, and that’s what Charlene Jones has experienced. Pruning at the wrong time is often the culprit.

Hydrangea macrophylla is the most widely grown of more than 600 cultivars of hydrangeas available to gardeners across the world.  Known as the big leaf hydrangea, most have mop-head shaped flowers. Others have a lace cap shape with tiny tight flowers in the center surrounded with a rim of open florets. They can produce pink, purple or blue blooms depending on the soil’s acidity.

Miriam Jabour, a Master Gardener and Master Flower Show judge, has been active in the Openwood Plantation Garden Club for over 35 years. Write to her at 1114 Windy Lake Drive, Vicksburg, MS 39183.

A pH of 6 to 6.2 brings forth pink blooms while the more acid reading of 5.2 to 5.5 results in blue ones. Purplish tones come from readings between 5.5 and 6. Quite prevalent in our area, they grow in full sun to partial shade and produce abundant blooms in May that hold their color for weeks until they are picked or left to dry on the bushes. Our native oakleaf hydrangea is also a macrophylla.

They should be pruned only in summer as the blooms start to fade or before the first of August, according to the hydrangeashydrangeas.com. They set buds for the next year’s blooms in late summer and early fall and produce blooms on old wood or the previous year’s growth. Inappropriate fall or late winter pruning may be the culprit if this type fails to bloom.

A small group of mopheads recently introduced will bloom on old and new wood, making time of pruning much less of an issue.  These are the Endless Summer series.

The cultivar known as The Original, may be pink or blue depending on the soil acidity and will re-bloom throughout the growing season.  There are two other cultivars in the series including Blushing Bride, a pure white with double florets which mature into a delicate pink blush on the bush and Twist and Shout, a re-blooming lacecap with blue or lipstick pink flowers.

These hydrangeas are generally more expensive to purchase than the traditional types and will always have the Endless Summer trademark predominately marked on the packaging and care card.

There are some hydrangeas that should be pruned in  the late fall and winter months because they bloom on new wood or fresh spring growth. Hydrangea arborescens, the Annabelle or snowball type, and Hydrangea paniculata or the PeeGee type fall into this category. Both have beautiful, pure white bloom-heads with many florets.  The only time that Annabelles should not be pruned is in late spring immediately prior to blooming and early summer for the PeeGees which bloom a little later than the Annabelles.  The PeeGee type can be limbed up into an attractive tree shape as well as being used as a shrub.  Limelight, one of our 2009 Mississippi Medallion Plants, is a really unique Hydrangea paniculata cultivar. It starts out a delicate light chartreuse turning into a bright lime green and finally pink as fall approaches.

Annual pruning is not required unless a hydrangea becomes too large for its space or needs to be revitalized after a couple of years of reduced flowering. Take time to read the identification and care cards before purchasing these or any new plants for your garden.  Ask questions at the nursery if you are not sure about how to care for or how to plant your purchase. Some hydrangeas are larger than others when mature, so consider mature size in determining the best planting site.

Hydrangeas are wonderful additions to the Southern garden and make long-lasting cut flowers.