Annabelle is easy to propagate. I put fall cuttings in soil in a bucket and they all rooted. I used branches about 20 - 24 inches long. I was Feb and all the leaves were gone, gently wounded the bottom 6 inches of the stem and I put the bottom two or three leaf nodes into the soil and put the bucket in the basement. Made sure the bucket did not completely dry out and they leaved out in March - zone 8, PNW - and potted them up three weeks ago. I had about 15 - 24 in each bucket. Almost all of the branches rooted. Here are some shots of the process. I found this method in an old gardening book written in Britain and tried it out. It is faster and easier than the usual way of heat mats and rooting medium. It seems to work for some species better than others and perfect for the Annabelles, Nikko Blue and other Macs.
Bucket of cuttings leafing out.
Bucket broken out and plants teased out.
Root ball from plant in bucket.
Potted up and labeled
Trays of new babies.
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Rooting hydrangeas
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