Why are my hydrangeas not flowering??

I live in west central, the flowers are planted on the north side of my house so they're in the shade a lot. The first year we lived here, the had a lot of blooms, none since then???

Why are my hydrangeas not flowering??
You might check the acid level in your soil.... Hydrangeas like different levels of acid in their soil and it might be low on something


You can go to a hardware store and get a small tester for this. Just ask the sales clerk.
Reply:It could be you're pruning at the wrong time of year. Most big leaf hydrangeas should be pruned after flowering because they set blooms on this year's growth for next year. There are new varieties like Endless Summer that are supposed to bloom on old and new growth. If you are in Zone 4 or 5 it also could be that a late frost is killing the buds so the only thing you could really do in that case is live with it in a bad year or protect them in the early Spring from hard frost. Also a fertilizer high in phosphorous (like bone meal) promotes blooms so you could try that. Annabelle hydrangea should bloom fine in zone 4 or 5 whenever it is pruned and regardless of frost...that's the old fashioned kind with the big puffs of white flowers. So possibly fertilizing might help.
Reply:Most likely it is misguided pruning. Hydrangeas blossom on last year's new growth. If you mistakenly prune off last year's growth, presto! No blossoms! If you do need to prune your hydrangeas, do it in the fall by cutting back the current year's flowering stems by 1/3. Leave the current year's growth alone.
Reply:You live in west central what?? New York?? Iowa??? Colorado??? You'll need to provide better details, but chances are, with the colder winter we experienced in North America this past year, they may just be blooming a little later than normal.
Reply:are you fertilizing?

miriam