Hydrangeas inspire both professional and amateur gardeners with their beauty, long-lasting blooms, and versatility in the garden, but these special plants need proper care to look their best year after year. Join Heritage Museums & Gardens’ Curator of Hydrangeas, Mal Condon, for our popular Hydrangea Success Series – now available virtually! This 6-episode online webinar series is for gardeners who wish to deepen their knowledge of Cape Cod’s most iconic flower and increase their growing success. Each webinar focuses on a different aspect of hydrangea care, from pruning, to planting, to irrigation, to propagation. Rent the entire series or pick individual episodes based on topics. Whatever you choose – you’re sure to come away with a wealth of practical knowledge and techniques to achieve hydrangea success! Scroll down to read descriptions of each webinar video offered. Each video has a 72 hour rental period for viewing, while the entire series is available for 30 days after purchase. Click the video to watch a trailer and learn more about renting these webinars through Vimeo.

Mal Condon Hydrangeas

Mal Condon

A lifelong gardener, Mal has been collecting, propagating, and growing hydrangeas for more than 40 years. He and his wife Mary Kay owned and operated Hydrangea Farm Nursery on Nantucket Island for many years. Early in 2014 they relocated to Yarmouth Port on Cape Cod where they have created another significant hydrangea collection in their new location. As Curator of Hydrangeas, Mal is the ‘hydrangea whisperer’ at Heritage, responsible for the many existing hydrangea plantings and assisting with the continued expansion of the genus in our gardens

Virtual Hydrangea Success Series

Purchase the whole series at a reduced rate & access videos for 30 days. This option includes all 6 of the series videos for the price of 5, and covers pruning, planting, irrigation, and propagation.

Pruning Hydrangea macrophylla & serrata – Step 1

Even the most experienced gardeners can be overwhelmed by the prospect of pruning hydrangeas. Over the years, Heritage Hydrangea Curator and expert, Mal Condon, has developed a 3-step method to pruning everyone’s favorite, hydrangea macrophylla. Join us online as Mal breaks down the important first step to ensuring these finicky plants produce the blooms we all love. Learn how to selectively prune your plants to improve vigor, increase bloom density, check plant height, and enhance ornamental value. Mal’s detailed presentation includes discussion of all the tools, tips, and techniques you need for success with your own plants.

Pruning Hydrangea macrophylla & serrata – Steps 2 & 3

This is the companion session to H.macrophylla Step 1 Pruning webinar presented last month. Over the years, Heritage’s Hydrangea Curator and expert, Mal Condon, has developed his tried-and-true “Seasonal Approach” to pruning everyone’s favorite hydrangea – H. macrophylla. Join us online as Mal breaks down the crucial second and third steps in his process to ensure these exceptional plants produce the blooms we all love. These seasonal pruning steps help to stimulate early bloom production and encourage the secondary and even continuous blooming capabilities found in many of the new re-blooming H. macrophylla cultivars now on the market. If you want to see gorgeous, long-lasting flowers, you won’t want to miss this next installment of Heritage’s Hydrangea Success Series!

Pruning the “Other Species” of Hydrangeas

Hydrangea pruning can be a challenging activity well beyond our much-favored H. macrophylla species – especially considering that there are five “other species” common to home gardens. And each of them deserves some specialized attention with respect to techniques and timing. Over the years, Heritage’s Hydrangea Curator and expert, Mal Condon, has refined the pruning process to meet each species’ unique needs. Join us online as Mal provides step-by-step instructions on how to prune these “other species” – including smooth leaf, panicle, oakleaf, mountain, and climbing hydrangeas. Learn how to selectively prune your plants to improve vigor, increase bloom density, check plant height, and enhance ornamental value. Mal’s detailed presentation includes discussion of all the tools, techniques, and tips you’ll need for success with your plants.

In-Ground and In-Container Hydrangea Planting

This online webinar is for gardeners who wish to learn more about Heritage’s successful practices associated with the very important garden chores of planting – both in ground and in containers. While the focus of this workshop is hydrangeas, the planting techniques and soil creation and amendment procedures are largely universal to most of the woody ornamentals you would plant on the Cape. The important best practices for mulching, fertilizing, and hydrangea bloom color control will be thoroughly addressed. Additionally, of all the hydrangea species, H. macrophyllas are the best suited to container growing. This method is the surest way to obtain reliable blooming – even on Cape Cod! Best of all, container growing provides an effective “mobility factor” – a comparatively easy and efficient way to move and protect these cold-sensitive plants from winter. Our Curator of Hydrangeas, Mal Condon, is particularly fond of this growing method and has developed superior ways to enhance the growth and protection attributes through his “Pot-N-Pot” and “Bag-N-Pot” growing techniques that he will share in detail.

Irrigation for Hydrangeas

Join us as we present the “how-to” for this essential component of successful gardening. The focus of this workshop is totally directed to the home gardener. Successful irrigation for hydrangeas (and all woody ornamentals) is all about surface watering via low flow emitters to gradually apply water on a defined schedule to the base of the plant. The actual installation is well within the capabilities of most gardeners. We’ll show you exactly how it’s done, the needed supplies and tools, and where to obtain them. Even if you’re not interested in doing the installation work, you’ll become knowledgeable enough to better interact with your chosen irrigation contractor.

Hydrangea Propagation for the Home Gardener

Mal Condon, Heritage’s Curator of Hydrangeas, will share the details of plant propagation techniques developed specifically for the home garden. Propagation is a pleasurable pursuit and a most enjoyable way of making more plants – for your own garden and to share with gardener friends. While hydrangeas will be the main focus of this demonstration, these practices can be applied to many other woody ornamental plants. Participants will be introduced to the needed components and shown step-by-step instructions to prepare and “strike” their own cuttings at home. Details on “next step” nurturing to transition your rooted cuttings into well-rooted plants will also be presented.

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