I have to apologize for my former name-calling. Even though I didn't coin it first, I confess to having called Hydrangea macrophylla 'Endless Summer' "Endless Bummer." Turns out, it wasn't really a bummer, it was just misunderstood. I decided in early spring I wouldn't have any flowers from last year's buds and cut all of the stems back by half on the early side of mid-March to mid-April.
I also topdressed the soil at the base of the plants with aluminum sulphate. Even though I scratched it in as best I could, I have a great mixture of pink, mauve and blue. I cut back any stem to about half at this point that doesn't have a flower bud. This assures that the plant will stay manageable in height and also lets the flowers shine without being obscured by too much foliage.
