Deadheading Hydrangeas

By Phran Novelli

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Last week I got an email from a listener named Jack who asked about deadheading Hydrangeas. Yes, this is the time to snip off the browned droopy flowerheads of those pink and blue mophead Hydrangeas. Snip behind the flowerhead where all the thin stringy stems holding the flowers come together. You can cut back to the first or second set of leaves, but, old fashioned blue and pink hydrangeas will make buds soon for next year, so you don't want to prune a lot off their branches too late in summer or you won't get as many flowers next year. But, you can always snip off just the deadheads themselves.

On the other hand, if you have one of the newer reblooming hydrangeas, you can cut as often as you like, because they make new flowers all summer. So cutting off fresh hydrangea flowers to enjoy in a vase or snipping browned blooms all summer long will help prompt popular rebloomers, like 'Endless Summer,' to keep making even more flowers.