Ok, for the impaired...... 1. this IS Gardenweb, NOT Dave's Garden 2. Gardenweb is a free site, Dave's Garden is a pay site. 3. I belong to Gardenweb, not Dave's Garden. 4. I posted that I was and am still wanting to trade my Brugmanisas for other plants. 5. I would still like to trade my Brugmansias for other plants with anyone but Smurfy Grower because she doesn't know even what site she is on. 6. NO ONE STOLE MY IDENTITY! And accusations like that, that are unfounded, without clearing up the facts, are dangerous, malicious and damaging. You do not post that someones identity has been stolen without speaking to that person and getting conformation that indeed that is the case, just because you are confused and or unclear. *** Bonus*** Susan, which is my name and how I sign all my posts, is usually indicitive of a 'female' person. Ok, man? Thanks! Susan

What do you mean by "too large"? Nikko Blue gets to be a good sized shrub, 4-6' tall and as wide, often quite a bit larger in my area. If you need to prune to control size, then I'd suggest you relocate the plant to an area where it can grow undisturbed. Because of the growth and bloom habits of a bigleaf hydrangea, it's a risky business trying to maintain these at a specific size smaller than what they want to be. The best time to specifically reduce size is when the plant is in the middle of its bloom season - hard to do then (far less so if it's not blooming at all :-)), but really the only guaranteed time to be able to remove significant growth without affecting future blooms. The drawback is that pruning stimulates new growth and the plant will quickly return to its former size. I've found that the following site has the best information on hydrangeas virtually anywhere on the 'Net. You'll notice that they clearly indicate that pruning should be kept to a minimum if at all possible on H. macrophyllas, but if that is impossible July is the latest preferred time. Here is a link that might be useful: pruning directions

Mopheads like NB develop flower buds on old wood, between July and August (around July for me and August for you). The buds can withstand winters up to Zone 6 but only if the plant goes dormant without problem in the Fall, if the winter temps are not too cold for your zone, if the plant continues to get moisture before the ground freezes, and if the plant does not break dormancy due to high temps in winter. if you want to get reliable blooms from those buds, you need to winter protect. You also need to protect in cases where the weather stays warm but temperatures suddenly come crashing down (like 25 or less). High temps can make the lants break dormancy. Then sudden and large drop below 32F can kill the buds. Down here in Zone 8, mopheads, lacecaps and oakleafs are alive, green and well as if this was September. Paniculatas went dormant a few weeks ago. So, I am concerned about damage from a sudden large drop in temps under these conditions. Two winters ago, winter started late, the plants did not go dormant in the Fall and December had a nasty temp drop from the 70s to the 20s that continued for a while. Last year, the same thing occurred but in the 1st quarter of 2015. Both scenarios killed flower buds. So this year, I am trying to winter protect the hydrangeas like NB that bloom on old wood. You might winter protect if you want to make sure you get bloomage in Spring. Since my leaves are still a nice, lush, green or red, I just put the chicken wire around the plants and will add mulch either before there is a large drop in temps or after gradual/small drop in temperatures dry out the leaves. By the way, which Ilex do you have? I was looking at one deciduous holly that produces yellow 'berries' (drupes) because I have several fruit producing shrubs around but no yellow 'berries'.

"I’m not sure why it’s called blue if the ph is what determines the color." All bigleaf hydrangeas would prefer to be grown in acidic soil conditions. And it is the aluminum in the soil that makes the flowers blue. Less than properly acidic soil conditions (too high a pH) tie up aluminum and make it unavailable to the plant and then the flowers tend towards the purply pink colors rather than a true blue. And even in properly acidic soils, if there is not sufficient aluminum available, the flowers will not be blue. Some bigleaf hydrangeas have flower pigmentation that makes them less amenable to color changes due to pH. I would consider Nikko Blue one of those in that it will tend mostly to blues (often a rather pale, washed out blue). It is seldom ever a true pink, even in alkaline soils, but more of a muddy pink color. "As expected there are as many opinions as their (sic) are gardeners. " The info I provided on fertilizers is not just my opinon :-) It is science based and easily researched! If you understand plant morphology and how they process and use nutrients, it becomes very clear how so-called "special' ferts - like transplant fert or bloom boosters - do not work efficiently in the manner in which they are intended. Or better than any general all-purpose fertilizer. They are really just a marketing gimmick intended to sell more fertilizers