Nelly Moser is a slow, slow grower for me.. I have had her 3 or maybe 4 years and she just can't make herself do much no matter how much i tend to her, she is watered and fertlized well but she is still a weak grower for me..In the years I have had her I might have seen a total of 5 very weak blooms. She was a mature plant when I got her at a plant swap. Grant it I do have her in a large 20 gal pot, but I have many in large pots and some of them aren't as old nor as mature as Nelly but they do grow and bloom well, but not Nelly Moser. As for pruning her now, I don't think it would help her this year nor hurt her in the long haul. Prunning above ground encourages root development below ground. I have found with mine she does best in part shade then in direct hot summer sun, she browns out very easy in hot sun. Sandy

If there is no sign of new growth on the stems now, then yes, remove them. Cut back all the way to the base of the plant or to where any new growth is apparent. Not knowing where you are located, it's hard to speculate why these stems started to leaf out then stopped. In my area - where winter protection is usually unnecessary - we did experience some late hard frosts after the hydrangeas began to bud out. Any growth that was present died from cold damage. Not sure what 'growmore' is but assume it some sort of compost, composted manure or composted biosolids. None of these is likely to have caused the damage you describe......sounds much more like it is weather related. Depending on location and what hydrangeas you are growing, you may or may not get flowers this season. Just focus on keeping the plants happy and healthy, protect for winter if appropriate and you should enjoy flowers as usual next season.

I would and I do. The leaves do nt get much sun and can transfer disease from the ground to the plant. They also give the ants a roadway to the tender leaves up top. I find that they get yellow anyway. Do your tomatoes a favor and take those bottom leaves off with some scissors.

Correct - what I like and what you like and what dviolet likes - we can pick 3 different ones out of 3. Regarding selling the plants and when to sell them. My theory is that the plants perform the best first 2 years of their lives... then they slow down. Sometimes rerooting the crown rejuvenates them. Sometimes you can reroot the crown, keep the stump with several leaves - not all - but may be 3-4 to let the light hit the stem - and you get several high quality suckers to root in a month or 2. In any case - some plants slow down dramatically with age, some less - but if you have a younger replacement plant - let the old one go. Yeah - I know - somebody kept Superman alive for 54 years until it croaked. But - it was a curiosity and - pardon me - an ugly thing to start with. The only reason to keep the the old one - if it a really good line. Or original hybrid. That's what big sellers do - they select the best - and keep them as stock plants to harvest the leaves.