O.K. I, too, have been through the dreaded "flopping" syndrome, and it took me a few years and numerous experiments to find a reasonable solution. . . First, the stems get cut completely down (6" off the ground) around the first week of March; as of today, the third week in June, they have soared to 4½' and are smothered in bloom. Second, I agree with Kate about the "fence" support, although my preference is ordinary wire-mesh because it rusts up nicely and is even less conspicuous than the green wire. In addition, I support my "wire column" (not too tight, now) with three sections of rebar. . .those rain-soaked blossoms get really heavy! By encouraging the first flush of stems to grow up INSIDE the cage, there will be sufficient secondary growth that will grow through the cage and quickly camoflage it Too many of the available flower rings are simply too short to support 4½ tall stems, literally cutting them off at the knees and making it even easier to flop. I have found the optimum height for the cage is 3'-4'. If you prefer to not have the rusting cage sitting there all winter, it's easy enough to lift it and store it - one winter I got really creative and stuffed the cage with evergreen boughs and ended up with an instant holiday tree! An earlier experiment that worked almost as well, involved an oversized tomato cage, which stood 4' high - it, too, required extra rebar support, because fifty sopping wet mopheads, after a rain, is a lot of gravitational force at work ! Incidentally, my 'Annabelle' sits in dappled shade; I have been told that this same plant in full sun develops stronger stems, but I have no personal experience with that. . .hey, if you really like a plant and you want it in a particular spot, you just have to come up with creative ways to make it look its best ! :-) Carl

Hi Marg, 'Bella Anna' is definitely a better plant than 'Invincible Spirit' ... BA starts out looking nice, though didn't exactly match the brightly colored promo photos. It fades to a rather blah color, but here in Alberta, we experienced another rather cool summer and BA did look very good for an extended period of time, but now the big heads are a drab greenish beige, though I had expected such of the natural aging process, thankfully it has now flushed out with many brightly colored fresh blooms. Folks in hot southern regions have been vocally disappointed with the performance of these varieties. I've seen 'Invincible Spirit' at a friend's place, it was all floppy and an all round inferior plant to BA. I expect that in a few years time improved varieties will be marketed of these types. Though, don't get me wrong, I'm still rather impressed with BA and hope it winters well. Photo showing blooms at their best.

There is not a real simple answer to your question :-) Yes, they did not bloom as you expected because of the pruning. Most types of mophead hydrangeas (H. macrophylla) bloom on growth that was produced the previous season. If you prune in spring or even too much later than the actual bloom time, you run the risk of removing any potential flower buds. Often you will read to prune immediately after the bloom cycle but hydrangeas in my climate bloom well into fall so in my area it is generally recommended not to prune, as any flowering growth for the next season has already been formed. Your climate may prove different, but if hydrangeas are in bloom in your area now, I would avoid any pruning. Period. There are reblooming mopheads available - those that bloom on both old and new growth. Pruning is not so critical with those as even if one removes the flower buds on the previous season's growth, there is still the potential for a later bloom season on the current season's growth. Other than deadheading or a very infrequent pruning to reduce size, there is no reason why one would have to prune a macrophylla on any sort of routine basis except to remove any dead wood.

The best time to transplant is anytime when the shrub is dormant (a few weeks after the leaves have dried out) and the soil is not frozen. That reducess stress on the plant. Helps the back too! So check the weather and plant either now or in early Spring. Personally, I prefer to move shrubs in early Spring. Try to move as much of the root ball as you can. I preprare the new hole first and then move the shrub with help, if needed. Do not fertilize again until Spring but do add muilch up to the drip line.