The steep slopes surrounding my house mandate a two-step mini-deck to reach my kitchen door. Nearly every time I exit and peer over the deck rail I feel compelled to recalculate my plant IQ.

My problem or my exceptionally wise action was to plant two identical unusual lace cap hydrangeas in the sight line just beside the deck. They are planted close enough together that they could hold hands with little effort if they wanted to.

Right know I'm feeling half smart as one is rather eye catching with large pinkish flowers that quickly fade to an interesting light purple. The other's flowers are scarce but I hold out faint hope that there are still more lurking in the terminals of its branches.

At the end of the winter and after the unusual April freeze I felt pretty dumb. They were killed to the ground. The only growth was from ground level. Any blooms on most hydrangeas after that level of kill would produce a wait to next year scenario.

Hydrangea! To me they are a love-hate affair. Do their problems outweigh their value in the garden? The common complaint is that they do not bloom. Many hydrangeas set buds on new wood during the summer of the year before they bloom. In theory, winter injury of branch tips exceeding several inches will eliminate bloom. There are also significant differences in winter hardiness among varieties. I still have a lot to learn on that issue. Improper pruning is also a good way to eliminate bloom. The rules are: do not tip; prune immediately after flowering.

Recently there has been a lot of press about a variety that blooms all summer. As is often the case, people who market and would be lost in the garden, write much of the garden news. I'm not challenging their claim, I just need to add that there is now a collection of hydrangeas that share this characteristic and always has been.

I would be remiss not to include a paragraph or so on color change that occurs in many pink or blue hydrangeas. To get blue you need very acid soil. That can be a chore in this area unless you have a naturally wooded lot. Or you can add alminium sulfate. Pink is the opposite and occurs here with no effort.

The good news is that the array of colors available is greatly expanding. I even saw one at Mt. Cuba (a du Pont garden in Delaware) that offers different color flowers on the same bush. It may be an issue of aging but there were white, pink and red ones. The foliage on that one also was a bit different with a reddish hint.

Yes, I am itching to add a lot more hydrangeas to my garden. My problem is deciding just where. I am looking for a spot with well-drained soil that never gets too dry. It must be sheltered from the afternoon sun and the winds of winter. Perhaps establishing an evergreen screen should be my first move.