Krysten, the best sugestion would be to touch base with the previous owner and duplicate whatever she tells you to do as best as you can. Lack of blooms can be caused by weather that kills the flower buds, pruning after the flower buds have formed (they develop starting in August-September) and lack of moisture. There is little one can do about the weather so make sure that, if you have to prune, do so before August; and try to maintain the soil moist, not wet, not dry, as best as you can. Maintain 3-4" of acidic mulch up to the drip line of the shrub to help with moisture and cold/hot weather. Trying to get a specific color or color hue out of your hydrangea is a totally different problem. The acidity or alkalinity in your soil will determine the color that you get. If your soil is naturally alkaline, the blooms will be a shade of pink. If you add aluminum sulphate, the soil pH will change and the blooms will develop a purplish color at first. If you continue increasing the acidity of the soil then the blooms will turn blue. Since they are already blue then it follows that you need to add lime so the soil will be less acidic and more alkaline. That eventually triggers a change from blue to purple and then then to pink. But be aware that this is very difficult with hydrangeas planted in the ground; potted hydrangeas are easier to deal with. About the color purple..... the type of purple that you get as the plant changes from pink-to-purple-to-blue or from blue-purple-pink also depends on how many red pigments the plant actually has. The more it has, the more of a deep purple you get. What that means is that the type/variety of mophead hydrangea that you have will make a difference when you try to get a deep purple. Your plant may produce a light purple when shifting colors. Varieties that make nice deep purples are Glowing Embers, Royal Purple (also called Mathilda Gutges I think), Merrit Supreme and others. The previous owner can tell you what types of purple she got and how easy/hard it was to achieve them. Luis

bettsyy, the bumps on the stems may be roots trying to form where the stem got wet, tomatoes will try to put out roots along the stem even above ground if the stem is wet enough... do you water the ground below the plant or the actual leaves? Also, if the yellow leaves are relatively spot-free, and they are the lowest leaves, they could just be dying off due to age and lack of sunlight down low on the plant... or they can be yellowing from overwatering. How is the soil you planted in and how have you been watering and have you had much rain?

Hillary, I am not a professional so I try to think of things that could be done by a homeowner on their own without spending a lot of money. If the grids in your doors cannot be painted then I would paint the door white. I would trim the tree so that the trunk is viable. Evaluate plants to determine if they should be relocated. It is not attractive to cover the lower windows. Plant something attractive and flowering near the door. Grow grass in the small bed at the end of the landing. The entrance will have a cleaner look with that bed gone. Any plants you choose for the center of the foundation should say low.

I agree w/ tozmo about disliking black and thinking that a creamy color would complement your brick and stone better. Re window boxes, I'm in z5 so they're planted from the end of May until the frost kills them (usually Sep or Oct). One year I decided to fill them with stems of silk mums for autumn, then switch to silk poinsettias right after Thanksgiving. I didn't anticipate the mums being frozen solid in the soil until late April. LOL!!! Fwiw, I now use fresh cut evergreens for my window boxes in the winter and love the look.