Hydrangea is not a good plant to use as button hole the florets will close up quite quickly.

I have found that to dry hydrangea flowers it is best to just put them in a vase or cup with NO water to dry. They will not get deformed that way. :-) I have some from 2 years ago and they are still beautiful.

On pruning Hydrangeas, it depends on the type you have, I cut mine down to the gound every fall and get beautiful basketball size flowers every year, the neighbors have a different type that they don't prune and they also get flowers every year, however not as large as those on our bush.

The reason to repot or bed a plant is to give more room for the roots to grow. If your Hydrangea is in a too small pot the you should replant it. If the pot is large and the plant not too large then you can leave it as it is for at least a another year.

Color variation depends on the amount of aluminum compounds in the flowers. These aluminum compounds are mostly found in "Acid Soil". If there is no aluminum present then the flowers are a pink. If aluminum is present then the flowers will bloom blue. The best way to check this to get a simple PH test from your garden center and then if necessary compensate the soil with the right fertilizer.

Hygrangea's naturally turn brown in fall. Just remove spent flowers. Depending on variety, stems should be cut down to ground in late fall, pruned slightly or not at all. Look at info on type you have and ask local nursey how to take care. They also grow well in the Northern climates with little care. Follow directions according to type you have. As for Lilacs, they should be pruned when spent flowers are removed.

Hydrangea plants love to be moist not soggy. If you see them dropping indoors water them well in a sink they do tend to come back. After you enjoy them indoors plant them outside. My Hydrangeas do the best in my shaded garden, durning the hot summer I do make a point to make sure they are watered well.

"... but it has never bloomed." Are you pruning your Hydrangea? I found my Hydrangea blooms when I don't cut the back the plant. The blooms grow on the older more established stems. I prune the (weak and unproductive shoots) plant lightly to rejuvenate for more luch foliage. I also found they like the morning sun and shade in the afternoon.

This is an answer for Julie, who recently planted a Pee Gee Hydrangea and is having yellow leaves towards the bottom. Unfortunately the signs for too much fertilizer and not enough fertilizer are very similar. But my best guess is that you are fertilizing too much. A newly planted shrub should not be fertilized at all for at least a week. The first feeding should be half strength, and then as normal. Miracle Grow is a harsh chemical fertilizer, and in my opinion should be used lightly. Also, make sure the plant is watered thoroughly when fertilizing to insure the new roots don't get burned.

A mophead hydrangea is not a bulb but a shrub. Keep it watered and fed and it will give you years of pleasure. Don't cut of the 'dead' blooms until the next spring as this will improve flowering.

Why your Hydrangea is not flowering :
Did you prune your Hydrangea this year or last year? If you did! Then you get next year or after two years flowers.
-If that's not the case then you can check if the conditions are optimal for your Hydrangea.
-If the conditions are good, maybe your Hydrangea has a disease. Does it look healthy to you?

Pruning: Directly after blooming you prune only those stems that bloomed. Next year you prune after the blooming again those stems that bloomed. You prune until you get the right size that you want to have for your Hydrangea bush. If that takes to long for you, you can prune everything after the blooming also the stems that didn't bloom. One problem !!! you don't get any flowers next year!

So the best method is the first because you have then every year some flowers. If that doesn't matter you then you can choose for the second method.

The Lace Cap Hydrangea know as Hydrangea macrophylla needs the following conditions:

Well drained, moisture to dry soil that must be rich. The soil should be acid to neutral and consist of sand or need loamy, clayish-humus. Blue flowers need acid soil for there colour. You can plant the Hydrangea in the half shade or shade. Don't plant it in a windy place. The Lace Cap Hydrangea combines well with perennials for woodland and borders, but don't plant them too densely.

A Hydrangea macrophylla does not have to be pruned it if it's not to big for you. Only after blooming you can prune those stems that bloomed.

Hydrangeas come in several different varieties but generally to proprogate, there are two different ways that I know of.
Take one (or more) lower branch and with a knife, make a nick or thin slice just below the "knot" in the branch. Lower the branch gently to the ground that you have loosened up, cover it with about an inch of dirt and put a brick or stone over it to keep it "in touch" with the dirt. It will form roots at the place you nicked it. I did this in the fall and by mid-spring, it had enough root to cut it off from the main plant and plant it where it doesn't get hot sun all day.
The second way, it to cut it off the original bush, remove all of the leaves except a few at the top (also any flowers or buds). Put it in water for a week or two, lay it in sand with just part of it above showing. It should root.

To make hydrangea flower blue, buy aluminum sulphate in your gardening store. The directions for mixing with water are on the package but it's 1tb per gal. Water the plant once a week starting in the spring.

Blue hydrangea need iron to produce blue flowers. Try putting some large iron nails in the ground around the base if you cannot find the suitable 'Blue Hydrangea' fertilizer.

Pick flowers when petals begin to stiffen slightly. Place flower stems in a buck with 1 inch of water. As water evaporates and stems draw up moisture, the flowers heads will open wider and dry slow. Remove wilted foliage. For more compact dried bolssoms, hang individual flower stems upside down in a cool, dry location away from moisture and heat.

To dry hydrangea blooms for floral arrangements: Someone told me to put my wedding bouquet in the freezer for a few weeks and then it would dry out. Some of the blooms did dry out but others looked pretty poorly so be careful with this tip!

An answer to getting acid to hydrangea to keep it blue is simple. Miracle Grow has a fertilizer that has acid in it. I use it about every two weeks for a few weeks beginning about this time of the year. I live in NE Texas.

I have successfully dried many hydrangeas simply by hanging them upside down in a dry room. It is best if it is also dark as they will lose less of their color that way. Also helpful is to hang them in small rather than large bunches for the least amount of deformity.

Some people asked why their blue hydrangas aren't blooming. It is possibly because they aren't getting enought sun to bloom. They need just the right amount of sun to bloom, because if they get too much where its hot the leaves will droop. So keep the roots moist in the sun. The other reason why they may not be blooming is because you're pruning them. Stop pruning! The only time you can prune a blue hydranga is within two weeks after they bloom. So if you pruned in the fall or summer or anyother time this year they will not bloom next year. So you will have to wait until they bloom again (spring 2004, I think) and prune within two weeks after blooming. The reason why this happens is because the blooms come off of the old growth and if you prune it in summer or fall you are cutting off next years blooms. Also, blue hydrangas need acidic soil to bloom blue, therefore you will have to add something like mir-acid (a miricle-gro product) or soil sulfer, or else the bloom will be a pale pink.

Black spots on hydrangas may be caused by too much water being on the leaves. If it is humid or rains a lot it could cause some sort of fungus which makes black spots. This generally happens to the older leaves toward the end of summer as the plant puts more energy into the rooting system for winter.

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