Hydrangeas May Bloom Yet

By Phran Novelli

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The great hydrangea hullabaloo of 2014 continues. So, some people say they can't stand staring at the blank branches of their hydrangeas and they're sure they're dead and they want to prune them all off. Hey, it's your garden, you can do whatever you want. If you're really sure they're dead, you can dig them out!

Personally, I'm going to hold off. I've been wrong before; I've thought in other years that those tan, dry blank hydrangea sticks would never leaf out…but most of them did. And being a really lazy gardener, I'd rather wait and see.

But also, plants can be very surprising. Several years ago, a man planted an old-fashioned big leaf blue hydrangea in Minnesota - even though everyone told him it couldn't survive the freezing weather out there. But it did! That hardy hydrangea led to the sensational 'Endless Summer' and other re-blooming hydrangeas we have today. Those are the ones that bloom on new growth even after a horribly harsh winter.

So, I'm going to give my hydrangeas all a chance and wait a while longer. Because I'm lazy - and because, with plants, you just never know.