Thanks NHBabs. Unfortunately I have no area in my yard that gets anywhere close to even 6 hours of sun. Our property is literally carved out of the woods surrounded by 50 or more year old pines, oaks and maples.

I don't mind less blooms if I get some blooms. The Bobo that gets the least sun is the one with the most buds so I'm thinking I might have been a bit overzealous pruning and a bit late. Do you remove dead flowers or leave these too? Could they be groomed in late fall instead of early spring since the weather seems a bit more co-operative in fall?

I have Strawberry Vanilla in similar light conditions and they get a satisfactory amount of flowers. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

Thanks for all your suggestions and help. It is always appreciated.

Sharon

Yes, they can be groomed late fall though I wouldn’t prune them (as opposed to simply deadheading) until it is cold enough (regularly below freezing) that there is no chance of resprouting. I personally like the contrast that the tan old flowerheads provide against my evergreens and the white snow, so I leave them until spring when I remove as many as I can reach. Since most of my H. paniculata are larger ones than Bobo, there are typically some old bloom heads above my reach, even with long-handled pruners. It doesn’t make a difference to how well they bloom.

Make a note on your wall calendar or put an electronic reminder in your computer so next year, you will deadhead earlier. Or maybe just don't prune at all. Nowadays, I rarely ever deadhead the spent blooms and let Mother Nature take care of them. They must disintegrate sometime between Jan-March for me. Yes, a few stay on thru leaf out time but, I still leaves them on but I leave them there and before long, they are gone.

Note that some paniculatas may produce another set of blooms and act as if they were re-bloomers when you prune them in June (I am not talking about deadheading though; normal pruning that is). I am not promising you will get blooms with Bobo later on (may also depend on how far down you pruned, etc) but, I am just saying that there may be a chance... based on prior posts by Springwood_Gardens and others. I have not had the heart to try this myself. ;o) At the time of the posting, they were not specifically talking about Bobo.

Luis, Thanks for the detailed response. I think I'll just leave them for now. I'm pretty sure I pruned the buds off since all my other hydrangea in similar light conditions have buds. It's tricky trying to spring prune here. By the time the piled up snow melts it seems it's already too late. I pruned like my roses when the forsythia were just starting to bloom. That was probably too late for Bobo.

sharon

I haven’t tried it in every single H. paniculata on the market but it seems like a hard dormant prune delays flowering a bit versus simply cutting off the dead flowers or doing nothing at all.

Pennlake, so do you prune yours or just let them be? Do you shape them at all?

I cut offf the dead flowersin March or April sometime before growth starts but don’t do any significant pruning except for maybe a wayward or crossing branch.

thanks pennlake. That will be my approach for next year :-)

Hi! So, I read the dwarf Bobo grows on new wood. However, just went out to prune them, and there’s new blooms, on old wood. Not sure what to do! Help!

It would be quite rare for Bobo (or most paniculatas) to bloom in early April. There may be browned out blooms out there from last year still hanging but new blooms? Wow. Old blooms can be deadheaded at any time. My Little Lime has a few straggler blooms still hanging but most fell down. This time of the year, you may see leaf buds opening though but flower buds? Wow. Just a fyi: flower buds opening look like small broccoli heads. Can you confirm? Thx.

Kyla Powell, where are you? This is far too early for Bobo to be blooming in most places of the US. Are you sure it is Bobo? How are you determining what is old or new wood? Can you add a photo of what you are seeing?

I would guess that maybe Kayla is mistaking the new leaf growth for flower buds :-) And the leaves can appear anywhere on the plant, old growth as well as new.

I’m sorry! I misspoke!! I have leaf buds! Not flower buds!!! I’m in Indiana. Thank you, All!

Ah, that is okay. Be aware that there is some cold area nearby (?) that might force you to water and protect the invisible flower buds & foliage of mophead hydrangeas from late frosts:

From 2:00am EDT, Sat Apr 11 until 9:00am EDT, Sat Apr 11

Action Recommended: Make preparations per the instructions

Issued by: Indianapolis - IN, US, National Weather Service,

...FROST ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 2 AM TO 9 AM EDT
SATURDAY...
* WHAT...Temperatures as low as 33 will result in frost
formation.
* WHERE...All of central Indiana.
* WHEN... Frost Advisory 2 AM to 9 AM EDT Saturday.
* IMPACTS...Frost could kill sensitive outdoor vegetation if
left uncovered.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Take steps now to protect tender plants from the cold.
&&

Information obtained from weather.com

THANK YOU, for saying that!!!!! It looks like we have several days ahead of frost!!!! What do you recommend covering them with? I’m a newby, to gardening!!! I landscaped my lawn last year, with recommendations from a nursery. I have so many different things planted, I’ve had to do a lot of research on their care!!

I just had everything mulched, last week. I have several varieties of hydrangeas and roses and other flowering bushes. I also have perennial flowers. Should I cover all? I just googled and it said to use bed sheets? I also have painters tarps. What do you recommend?

Kyla, I don’t cover any of the types of plants you mention, and I rarely cover anything. When we talk about ‘tender’ plants, it would be things that are very sensitive to frost. So think annuals, not usually shrubs and perennials. If they are hardy here, they are used to this weather, which is typical for this time of year. The one exception on your list might be hydrangeas, but not Bobo. It is Hydrangea paniculata and perfectly hardy here. If you have other hydrangeas of the macrophylla type, you might cover those to protect flower buds. And when you cover things, you can use any of those things you listed. Cover at night, and remove first thing in the morning.

If you have any macrophyllas, those will need protection. Bobo will not need protection because it blooms on new wood so it will develop flower buds in late Spring-ish. I water the macs deeply the night before and provide mulch. But if it should get the leaves zapped (they will look ugly for a while), wait 2-4 weeks for new foliage to surface.

THANK YOU, ALL!!!

Yes, no need to protect Bobo or other cultivars of Hydrangea paniculata. They are fine with frost.

Any chance my Bobo and Little Lime hydrangeas will still bloom this year after pruning? It is almost June, and nothing so far. I deadheaded and pruned them in early April, just as very tiny green buds were barely visible on some branches. The plants look great, but no blooms so far. I planted them in fall of 2000, and had beautiful blooms in 2021. I wish I hadn't done this, as I was so looking forward to the beautiful blooms!! I live in Indiana.

Much too early in the season to expect flowering from these. Panicle hydrangeas are late summer into fall bloomers. Look for signs of flowers in mid to late July and onwards.

It is still too early down here in Texas! Only macrophyllas, serratas and oakleafs are blooming. Maybe a few Annabelles are starting.

Thank you so much for the info on blooming times for Bobo and Little Lime! I am hopeful now that I will have some beautiful blooms sometime this summer:)