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stuart noble · 13-01-2011, 09:42 AM posted to uk.rec.gardening

On 12/01/2011 13:26, Janet wrote:
In ,
says...
. I
have no trouble propagating my mopheads, but how do you get them to
flower every year? Mine go beserk for one summer, then take a year off
before flowering again the following year. Is that normal?
Also, I need to keep them under control in a small garden.

Hydrangeas make their flower buds a year in advance. To have flowers
every year, you have to always retain some of last years growth.
Probably you have inadvertently pruned off next years flower buds in an
attempt to keep the plant small.

GC's often sell compact pots of mopheads in full flower on short
stems. To produce that very saleable appeal they were grown under very
artificial conditions, probably with hormone growth restrictions.
Huge flowers on a small potted plant in a GC, are a bit like huge feet
on a puppy...

Janet.

Thanks, Janet.
I haven't pruned for the last 3 years, and this year on/ year off
routine seems to be their natural way. Perhaps I'll just leave them to
get on with it.
I'm certainly not worried about their frost resistance. A hopeful
cutting I took last Autumn is happily sprouting when everything around
it looks shot to pieces.