You hadn't mentioned what kind of hydrangea you have. Annabelles are very hardy - and I rather prefer to do my heavy pruning in March. That's because it's easier to spot the dead branches and the live ones around then. I use the same treatment for limelight peegees, as well as for my climbing hydrangea. Some hydrangeas that are borderline like the nikkos, lacecaps, etc.. should have some mulching at its base to help keep temps steady over the winter. NO BUCKET covers please. If you are that concerned, you can surround your plant with chicken wires and fill it with more mulch. Remove the mulch come spring to prevent pests & disease from affecting the plant. Hope that helps. Ianna

If your tree is a paniculata hydrangea, it only requires mulch around the base, about 4 inches would be great. If it is a macrophilia, it requires winterizing. Check with "Heys" posts, he writes excellent articles on winterizing. Gary

Daylillies get the flower stalks removed, and in most cases the leaves will wilt with the first good frost, and can be raked away. the coneflower can be cut down to about a foot (if you want more, saving the seedheads will accomplish that- but they reseed themselves readily) if the peonies are just ragged looking, leave them until frost. if they're powdery looking (mildew) or spotty, cut them down. ALWAYS dispose of peony foliage- it and rose clippings are some of the few things that almost never go in to the compost heap, they're too prone to carrying disease. the snapdragons can indeed be harvested for their seeds- if a hybrind variety, you will get a 'random' mix of results next year. if they're a standard or heirloom kind, you'lll get pretty much what you got this year. the butterfly bush? kinda depends on what you want from it. some people like them light and airy and huge- they get trimmed to shoulder height, and thinned a bit. some whack them all the way back to knee height once they go dormant, then clean up any crossing trunks. me ? I'm trying something new I saw at Longwood Gardens- I'm training mine in to a tree- removed everything but one upright trunk, staked it in place, and am whacking it back to just beyond the top of the trunk, forcing it to put out side branches, which then also get trimmed- you might know the old clairol commercial, where two friends becomes four becomes eight becomes enough to fill the screen, yes? same principal. any loose litter, sickly looking leaves, and dead branches should be removed, and a top dressing of compost followed by a winter bed of mulch is always good :)

I live in Jerusalem, 800m/2700ft above sea level which is around 32ðN. As far as I know winter hardiness should be similar to US zone 9b, the Avg Min temp on January is 4ðc/40ðf, with a few days a year of snow/light frost but temperature rarely drops below -2ðc/28ðf Those seed are second generation and were taken from plans grown from seeds not far from the natural location (photo attached) their parents are growing. That happens at the upper Galilee mountain in northern Israel , about 140 km from Jerusalem and 200 m higher (1000-1200 m AMSL), with about 1000mm of rain on an average year and minimum similar to US zone 9a, which is the southernmost location wild peonies grow on earth. The same peonies also grown in a botanical garden in jerusalem and flower every year so I guess it is cold enough for them here. i am more concerned about summer - average Max temp around 30ðc\85ðf and 19ðc\65ðf Min during July and August but still, those peonies in that garden seem to do just fine. 2 months ago I got a few seeds of Paeonia suffruticosa (tree peony) and Paeonia lactiflora that were double dormant. I scarified the seeds following the instructions from this website and ruined most of them but had some scarified properly. http://crickethillgarden.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/starting-peonies-from-seed/ Now the seeds are in a jar with coir and a bit garden potting soil which is very airy and is able to contain a lot of moisture. I check the seeds every week and hope to see some roots soon, then i'll move them to the fridge. From my experience with seed germination - paper towel is not a perfect medium for seeds, they usually get mold if the paper is not replaced regularly. I will update as soon as something happens with any of the seeds. This post was edited by Cumulus-nimbus on Tue, Sep 23, 14 at 2:34