Hi mlafentres. I'm a hydrangea lover myself. Bailmer is a new cultivar, so it's unlikely it's what your great-grandmother grew, but that's not necessarily a bad thing! Bailmer flowers on new and old growth and doesn't require any special care to bloom reliably. They do best in a rich (composty) soil, moist but not wet soil and semi-shade. You can grow them in full sun, but the soil needs to be kept consistently moist. Since they can be prone to leaf spot and mildew, my preference is for less moisture and more shade - at least for the hottest part of the day. I'm currently 'trialing' a couple of ever-bloomers in a full-sun spot with trellising behind them for dappled shade - we'll see how that goes.

When you cut flowers for enjoyment or to remove spent blooms, prune to just above a healthy pair of buds.

If you want to adjust the bloom color, you can add aluminum sulfate to make the flowers bluer, or lime to make them pinker. Do a soil test before you add any amendments or just wait and see what the hydrangeas say. :)

I hope this help and wish you all the best with your new plants!

Thank you for your response. When is best to plant?

Mid-late March should be good. I'm not in your area and this winter has been a little wacky, so you may want to double-check with your Cooperative Extension to see what they recommend. The link is below.

Magster

Here is a link that might be useful: LSU AgCenter

Here, Hydrangeas do best on the east-facing side of the house. This gives them morning sun (enough so they have the energy to bloom well) and afternoon shade (which protects them from the fiercest sun of the day).

Try to match the mature size of the plant to the space. Hydrangeas can be pruned but they will try like crazy to reach their mature size--why fight their DNA's message? Let them be the size they want to be by choosing the right place for them.

You may not know is that there has recently--the past decade or so--been a revolution in Hydrangeas. For decades gardeners like your Grandmother grew Hydrangeas that bloomed once a year, for an extended period. Then hybridizers realized there are re-blooming Hydrangeas. So the new hybrids are often repeat bloomers--here for example I have some that bloom year-round.

Hydrangeas are both a great beginners plant as well as a great plant for mature gardeners who are not as spry as they once were. Hydrangeas need little pruning and are not much bothered by diseases and pests. Enjoy.

Thanks for the advice all. Mid March makes sense to me as a good plant time and I think I'm going to order six. Two for the east side of my house and four for the south side just to fill some of the empty yard space.

I think Bailmer is one of the types that blooms both on new and old. Likely, I'll never know what my grandma had, but Bailmer looks the same, and is probably a better plant.

Hydrangeas will need regular moisture, and here they aren't happy on the south side or west side of a building if they aren't getting some shade in the hottest part of the day. Their leaves wilt if the uptake of moisture can't keep up with how quickly the leaves lose moisture. Mine all get at least some bright shade from a building or trees or other shrubs.

I grow Bailmer/Endless Summer because it's hardy here, which many Hydrangeas aren't, but I have read of others who haven't been happy with it compared with some of the other reblooming Hydrangeas. You might want to ask for suggestions on the forum for your area about what Hydrangeas perform best. There's a Louisiana & Mississippi forum, an Alabama forum, and a Gulf Coast forum, as well as a Hydrangea forum.

Wow thanks!

For the south side, I would plant peegee type hydrangeas, as they do fine in sun. You do not state what zone you are in..
Most of the big ball type, or mopheads, prefer no hot sun. I have over 50 hydrangeas, a lot of them cuttings off of friends plants. I can never seem to toss out the prunings from mine, and thus end up with plants that I have to find homes for. I have some pink ones, that I make turn super dark blue, almost purple, by tossing all of our apple peels, cores, etc, some coffee grounds also, under the bushes, which makes the soil turn acid. I have had bug problems in over 45 yr. with them. Maybe you could go to the hydrangea site to see if someone has cuttings of the old type to share. They are easy to root.
Try to recall where your grandmother had them, in shade, or what side of the house.. It does not get hot here where I am, 80 would be hot, and the hydrangeas do well in cool. Also I have 15 of them in big pots, they have been there over 10 years, and always bloom. We keep the pots under a big fir tree.
Darlene

Darlene is right, there are hydrangeas that do well in sun, but they aren't blue like the Hydrangea macrophylla Nikko-type Hydrangeas your grandmother had. I love them as they are fully hardy here. I grow H. paniculata Quick Fire and Pinky Winky in full sun, both of which are large bushes that are a bit looser in look than Nikko-type Hydrangeas and have white aging to reddish pink blossoms. There are summer days that are hotter here than in New Orleans, so you may find that they grow well for you, but if you are interested in H. paniculata I would ask locally as to how they do in your area. I haven't had insect issues, but you are in a quite different area than either Darlene or I, so you should check locally about that also.

H. Quick Fire in summer with Clematis Little Bas growing through it.
{{gwi:248944}}From clematis on hydrangea July 9, 2013

H. Quick Fire in autumn colors.
{{gwi:248948}}From 2013