We planted some beautiful hydrangeas this summer and loved how long into fall they lasted. Now the flower heads have of course turned brown and dried. I know you are not supposed to prune hydrangea branches, but I'm confused about the conflicting instructions on dead-heading the actual flowers - do I clip off the dead flower heads? Or let them rot on the plant? (They're not attractive, so I wouldn't mind getting rid of them, but I will keep them if that is what ensures new flowers next summer.)
Btw, these are the "Endless Summer" brand of hydrangeas. I'm going to copy the info from their website also below...it says they get blooms from old growth but I don't really know what that means in terms of deadheading:
"Endless Summer® Hydrangeas are a proven, cold hardy, repeat blooming, and colorful mophead hydrangea. The Endless Summer® Collection has the distinguishing characteristic of blooming on both the current season’s growth as well as the previous year’s growth. Endless Summer® greatly outperforms the old-fashioned Hydrangea macrophylla. If there was a late frost or extended cold temperature exposure on the old-fashioned Hydrangea macrophylla the climate would have killed the flower buds that had formed on the previous year’s growth, therefore, the old variety may have bloomed little or not at all. Endless Summer® blooms on new growth and can showcase a billowing display of blossoms from late spring till late fall."