Deer Damage to Plants and What it Looks Like I've been asked to describe what it looks like when deer eat plants. This is a good question - insects eat plants too, so it's important to understand what deer chewing look like vs. insect chewing. With wise observation and understanding of what deer damage looks like, you'll be able to act based on ...

Mariana DiVita says, "If the mophead hydrangea is the Diva Queen of the garden, then I would say the oakleaf hydrangea is King." One reason she loves oakleaf hydrangea is it's not just a one season wonder. It has all season interest and she'll explain those assets right here.

We need help naming a plant again. Not just any plant - a seductive pink hybrid Magnolia with the cumbersome name of Magnolia sieboldii 'Colossus' x Magnolia insignis. Read about this new magnolia and about the naming contest right here.

Do you need to figure out what type of shade garden you have? We'll help you do that here. Determining your shade gardening situation takes a little bit of study, both in reading what others have to say about shade, then in spending time outside hanging out with your plants in shady spots. Let's get started.

Hydrangea serrata (mountain hydrangea) is very similar to Hydrangea macrophylla. So much so that some botanists think it's a variety of macrophylla. Because of a few qualities that strongly distinguish it from macrophylla, we treat them as a distinct species. We'll delve into those different qualities here.

Did you know that our beauty queen hydrangea, Hydrangea macrophylla, combats aluminum toxicity with its flowers? It’s well known that pH influences flower color on bigleaf hydrangeas, but how this happens is even more interesting than pH alone. Here’s the science behind the flower color.

It's the heat of summer and while those spring hydrangeas are a distant memory, there's a hydrangea that will be the show stopper for your summer garden. It's Hydrangea paniculata (panicle hydrangea) with its midsummer extravaganza of blooms. Read how we recommend you take care of it.

We've asked Mariana DiVita to explain the differences between types of hydrangeas. Experts say there are 25 to 80 different species of hydrangeas, but for the average gardener 6 are the most popular. Each species has different cultural requirements - no matter your garden or garden style there is a hydrangea for you!

Lacecaps are the wild hydrangeas. They are set up by nature to have two kinds of florets in the lacy flower head. The showy outer florets ring the edge of the flower head. Their job is to attract pollinating insects to the less-showy inner fertile florets. It's the job of the fertile flowers to make fruit/seeds and reproduce so the species lives...

'Irish Lace' is so exotic looking that we are asked, "is it cold hardy?" One parent, 'Lady in Red', is believed to be one of the hardiest macrophyllas. The other parent, H. angustipetala, is likewise known to be a cold-hardy hydrangea. I double checked with the breeder and he says the hybrid is hardy in 6a. Sounds interesting, doesn't it?

For this question about Hydrangea macrophylla (commonly called bigleaf or French hydrangea), we've asked Mariana DiVita to help us understand the flowering whims of this hydrangea species. Mariana is a Master Gardener from Cherokee County, Georgia.

Dear hydrangea pilgrim, you're freed! You don't have to prune your hydrangea. There are a few circumstances when you'd want to ask yourself, "is it necessary to prune my hydrangea? We'll discuss them right now.

I knew I loved shopping at plant markets. Now WE know we LOVE being a vendor at plant markets. Already this month we had a plant stand at the Penny McHenry Hydrangea Festival in Douglasville, Georgia. It was good to get out of our Internet shop and chat with people in person. There is a hunger for plant coaching and that's something Mike and I b...

Deadwood in a hydrangea is defined as last's years stems that have died. They look coarse and scraggly and it's time for them to go. We're going to explain how to prune deadwood from Hydrangeas macrophylla, bigleaf hydrangea. How-to video included.

Deadheading bigleaf hydrangea flowers is easy and I find it relaxing as can be. Here's a video that shows you how to do it.

Good garden parenting for Christmas Hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla) is actually pretty easy. But . . . there are some important things to consider and I'm going to carefully explain them. 

Robert Mallet presented lovely hydrangea pairings from the Shamrock collection at the American Hydrangea Society's October 2017 meeting.

Autumn is a heady time of year for we tree lovers. The colors themselves are lovely, but I especially enjoy watching the layers of color appear in stages as each tree species turns color. First the Dogwood with plenty of still-green trees behind it causing the red or burgundy fall color of the Dogwood to especially pop out of the scene. Then th...