I swear by this method but you need to wait until early next spring to do it.

As the buds start to swell sharpen your best pruners. Remove about 1/3 of the oldest

thickest stems of Annabelle. Remove obviously dead or diseased stems.

Cut back the rest of stems to about 2 or 2.5 feet. Place your cut about 1.5 inches above a

live bud, that way you don't have an ugly stub and you won't inadvertedly kill the live bud.

Within three weeks its stems will have grown about 2.5 feet and in 4 weeks it will be in bloom and standing straight.

It never needs fertilizer which contributes to lush growth and floppiness.

Mine is on the west side of the house in bright shade. I honestly never water it except in a drought and the leaves are fry ing.

It did flop after a torrential downpour but so did everything else. There are, of course, some flowers at the bottom of the plant which might touch the ground but overall this way of pruning creates an attractive rounded symetrical shub loaded with flowers.

I just wrap a 3 ft wire "fence" (available at places like Home Depot) around Annabelle--not tightly, but standing out a few inches from the plant. That way the branches will lean over and rest on the "fence" without "kinking."

Annabelle actually likes a bit of sun, if you can provide it for her. She also stands up better if she gets some sun.

Kate

Yep, use Marie's method. Extended heavy rains will still bring it all down, but yeah it's the kinks you want to avoid. I actually use Marie's method plus nylon twine lassos 18" up and then again about 30" up. It's arbitrary when to lasso, but I'd recommend doing it as the blooms are opening rather than trying to gather and lasso a fully splayed out plant.

But if you don't have time or will to lasso, I think you have at least an 80% chance of enjoying upright annabelles if you prune correctly.

I'd say there's more than an 80% chance there won't be as much rainfall in subsequent years. I've had at least 15" of rain since June 15 and they simply COULD NOT handle it.

I couldn't imagine what would've happened if I'd cut them to be ground. I've been using your method of pruning for about 3 years now. :)

Ya, I learned it from....who learned it from....who.....

Our garden teachers range far and wide and through the ages, don't they? And the internet has expanded that circle exponentially.

I gave up and replaced most of mine with Incrediballs. As the Annabelles matured, they got too big for any of the fencing/pruning ideas mentioned and more that I tried.

More sun is still better, but Incrediball doesn't flop as much. I did keep some Annabelles "out back" and where they're planted close together to somewhat support each other.

Annabelles will also excel a bit more if they're against a building or just under the canopy of a tree line.

And while we're discussing lessons, there is an exponential amount of information on hydrangea care that can be learned by searching the forum (or using Google) because there are a lot of vets that don't post anymore who were quite the gurus.

Ruth, what kind of hosta is that in your photo? They look great with your incrediballs.

Looks like partial shelter from trees and house. Good show! What direction does that side of the house face?

The house faces east.