A robust hydrangea season is upon us! As we delight in their dazzle, read up on how to ensure we experience their magic in the seasons ahead!

Like most of us, hydrangeas thrive in coastal areas. Nobody knows this better than author Joan Harrison, who has spent more than 30 years researching hydrangeas. If you’re looking for information on Mother Nature’s prolific pom pom and improving your own garden, Harrison’s book Marvelous Mopheads is a must read. She provides a detailed account of everything you need to know about the mophead type of hydrangeas, including color, pruning, potting, fertilizing and how to produce the best bloom from your plants.

Harrison’s interest piqued for the perennial back in 1990 when she received one as a gift. By the time she had moved to Cape Cod in 2002, her interest had become a full-blown passion. Realizing the knowledge she had accumulated would benefit others with the same curiosities, she explains, “What I really wanted to do was write the book that I had been looking for when I started out years ago searching for a guide to hydrangeas. There was no such thing.”

Now she is on her third book all about the Cape’s favorite colorful cluster, and this time she is focusing in on one specific type, the one she lovingly refers to as the “Marvelous Mopheads.” She credits a recent boom in popularity of the variety as her inspiration for this most recent book, saying, “In the last 10 years, since my previous two books were published, the world of hydrangeas has been booming. It seemed like every time I turned around, there were new varieties being mentioned. It was hard for all of us to keep up!”...