Chart of 27 Types of Hydrangeas That I Grow in My Upstate South Carolina Yard

 It is important to know WHEN to PRUNE your hydrangeas!!

Actually, it is more important to know when to NOT prune your hydrangeas!

Vanilla Strawberry should be pruned in February or early March.
Vanilla Strawberry is in the foreground.  (There is purple garden phlox behind it.) 

I used to be obsessed with roses but I got tired of spraying them for black spot and dealing with the thorns.   Although I still have over 30 rose bushes in my yard, I am now officially obsessed with hydrangeas. After I had several different varieties, I had to start a list including the height and the color of each one.  I transplant a lot.  A LOT.  My new yard is only three years old, and I’ve changed my mind a lot.  You really need to know how tall a plant gets and what color it is when you move things around.

It then came time to prune or not to prune my hydrangeas, so the hydrangea list turned into a chart with a column indicating when to prune.  Now the chart is my BGF (Best Gardening Friend).  I refer to it all of the time!

Rule #1:  DO prune your hydrangeas that bloom on NEW wood in the late winter or early spring!

Rule #2:  Do NOT prune your hydrangeas that bloom on OLD wood in the late winter or early spring!!

Top Row: PeeGee, Invincibelle Spirit
Bottom Row: Tardiva, Limelight
These hydrangeas all bloom on NEW wood

The last column of my chart includes whether the hydrangea blooms on new or old wood.  If your hydrangea is not listed, google it.

Hydrangeas that bloom on NEW wood can be pruned in fall, winter, or early spring.   I live in upstate South Carolina.  February and March are good months in which to prune these hydrangeas.  NEW WOOD is growth that a plant creates during the current season.  I prune mine down to about ½ of their size.

OLD WOOD is growth that was put on during the previous season (or earlier).

If you want to prune hydrangeas that bloom on old wood, it should be done after they bloom.   (before August)  Example: Merritt’s Supreme Pink blooms on old wood.  When they bloom, I cut some of the stems to put them in vases.   After they finish blooming and the flowers that are left look wimpy, I lightly prune them to shape them up and cut off the brownish flowers.  Then I don’t prune them again until a year later.  This is because they produce flower buds in about August that will bloom the following spring or summer.  Do NOT prune these in any month except July and maybe late June if they are done blooming!!!

Merritt's Supreme Pink blooms on OLD wood

If you accidentally prune a hydrangea in February or March that blooms on OLD wood, you will have a very healthy, green plant that doesn’t have any blossoms for a year!!  Don’t worry, though, because the NEXT year it will bloom again. (unless you screw up again!)

Let’s say you have a limelight hydrangea.  Look at the chart and you’ll see that it blooms on new wood.  Therefore, you should prune it in February or March.  This is because it will produce flower buds on the new wood that will grow in the spring  and they will bloom in the summer.

What if a hydrangea blooms on new AND old wood?  (Rebloomer) The BEST time to prune these is after they bloom.  If, however, you forget and end up pruning them in late winter (February), you will get blooms that year… but you won’t get the proliferation of blooms that you would otherwise get at the very beginning of the bloom cycle.  For example, for Endless Summer The Original, if you prune them in July, the next June your plant will be covered in blooms at first and then will bloom sporadically throughout the summer.  If you prune Endless Summer The Original in February, the June blooms won’t be as abundant.

Endless Summer - The Original blooms on new and old wood.  The color depends on the pH of the soil.

Penny Mac, Twist N Shout, and Blushing Bride also bloom on new and old wood.

My First Hydrangea - A friend of mine once gave me a beautiful, floral arrangement that included a living hydrangea in it.  When it had finished blooming, not knowing anything about hydrangeas, I took it out of the decorative container and planted it in my backyard.  It did well with very little effort! 

My first hydrangea when it was a couple of years old

Note about Light Requirements:  I read somewhere that the Big Daddy hydrangea could take full sun. Not!  After I bought it, the actual tag said it needed “Shade to Part Shade.”  I finally figured out that a lot of it depends on where you live in the country.  A hydrangea that needs part shade here in the South Carolina heat might be able to grow in full sun in Michigan.

I am in plant hardiness Zone 8a.

CHERYL’S HYDRANGEA CHART (S.C.; Zone 8a)

Name of Hydrangea	Light requirements	Height	Width	Color, pruning notes
Annabelle	Full Sun	3-4’	3-4’	WHITE.  Blooms on NEW wood.  Cut to within 12” of ground in late winter.  Heavy bloom-heads
Bella Anna ES	Full Sun to Partial Shade	3-5’	3-5’	Always PINK.  Blooms on new & old wood
Big Daddy	Shade to part shade	5-6’	5-6’	Blue or pink.  Blooms on new & old wood; shape after bloom cycle; plant shallow
Big Easy (Let’s Dance series) PW	Part sun to sun	2-3’	2-3’	Lt. green then lt. pink. Can be purple or blue. Blooms on new & old wood.
Blushing Bride ES	Partial Shade	3-6’	3-6’	White & then pink; Blooms on new & old wood
Cityline Paris	Part sun to sun	1-3’	3’	Hot pink and green. Blooms on OLD wood.
Costco hydrangea	I assume shade	I assume 4-5’	I assume 5’	Pink when purchased, but I assume it can be blue depending on soil pH
Endless Summer – The Original - ES	Partial Shade	3-5’	3-5’	Blue or pink.  Blooms on new & old wood
Everlasting Revolution	Full sun, part shade	3-4’	3-4’	Multi-color. Deep pink, maroon & true blue, then green highlights. Blooms on new & old wood.
Fire & Ice “Wim’s Red”	Full sun to Part shade	6-10’	6 – 10’	Blooms summer through fall.  White, then pink, then red. Blooms on NEW wood.
Forever and Ever (Original variety)	Morning Sun & afternoon shade	2-3’	2-3’	Pink or blue.  Blooms on new and old wood.
Incrediball PW	Part sun to sun	4-5’	4-5’	Green, then WHITE, then green again.  Blooms on NEW wood. <= 12” flowers
Invincibelle Spirit PW	Part sun to sun	3-4’	3-4’	Like Annabelle, but PINK.  Blooms on NEW wood. See footnote **.
Limelight  PW	Part Sun to Sun	6-8’	6-8’	Green (Chartreuse) and then pink. Blooms on NEW wood.
Little Lamb PW	Part sun to sun	4-6’ per tag	4-6’ per tag	White and then pink.  Blooms on NEW wood.
Little Lime PW	Part Sun to Sun	3-5’	3-5’	Green and then pink. Blooms on NEW wood.
Merritt’s Supreme Pink	Part shade to shade	5’	5’	Flowers turn green, then red-purple-pink. Blooms on OLD wood.
Mini Penny	Shade to partial shade.	3-4’	3-4’	Pink or blue.  Blooms on new and old wood.
Oakleaf – “Hydrangea quercifolia”	Part sun	6-8’	4-6’	Flowers white, then later brown.  Blooms on OLD wood.
Peegee Panicle (Paniculata ‘Grandiflora’)	Full sun to part shade	I’ve seen from 6’–30’!	6-15’	White then pinkish.  Blooms on NEW wood.
Penny Mac	Part Sun	5’	5’	Pink or blue. Blooms on new and old wood
Pinky Winky PW	Part sun to sun	6-8’	6-8’	White then pink; <=16” panicles.  Blooms on NEW wood.
Pistachio – Next Generation	Part shade	2-3’	3-5’	Scarlet red tinged with green. Blooms on new and old wood.
Tardiva	Sun or light shade	8’	6-8’	White. Blooms on NEW wood. Cone-shaped.
Twist N Shout ES	Partial shade	3-5’	3-5’	Pink and periwinkle blue.  Lacecap; Blooms on new and old wood
Vanilla Strawberry	Full Sun	6-7’	4-5’	White, then pink, then red.  Trim it back by a third in Feb. or early March.
Wedding Ring - Next Generation	Part Shade	3-4’	3-4’	Bicolor. Blue & white or pink & white. Blooms on new and old wood.

KEY: 

ES = Endless Summer

PW = Proven Winners

** Invincibelle Spirit: Since its introduction in 2010, $1 from each plant sold is donated to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation® (BCRF).  That’s cool.

In my real chart, I have another column called “Location” where I keep track of where in my yard the hydrangeas are located. (Examples: Left side of house near camellia; next to wall near lamppost)

Happy gardening!

...and that's my 2 cents' worth, Cheryl

Link to the hydrangea chart so you can print it out:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7BIf1kqh0WkdWhILVdzcXhvXzQ/edit?usp=sharing

Link to a blank chart so you can make your own hydrangea chart: 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7BIf1kqh0WkWVRlbGpuOWtDUkU/edit?usp=sharing

Click HERE to watch a video on how to make this easy, short hydrangea centerpiece

Click HERE to watch a video on how to make this palm frond arrangement

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