Gardenality.com · Gardenality Genius · Zone 8A · 10° to 15° F · Comment About Planting
Plant the Frillibet hydrangea in fertile, well-drained but moist soil. Consistently wet and soggy soils can cause problems with the roots. In the South it's best to plant this hydrangea in a site that provides morning sun with afternoon shade. The further north you go the more afternoon sun it can tolerate.

To plant, dig a hole no deeper than the root ball and two to three times the width of the root ball and fill it with water. If the hole drains within a few hours, you have good drainage. If the water is still standing 12 hours later, improve the drainage in your bed. Turn and break up the soil removed from the planting hole. When planting in compacted, dense or heavy clay soil mix in a good organic compost or a soil amendment at a 50/50 ratio with the soil removed from the planting hole. Remove your plant from its container and carefully but firmly loosen the root ball. Set the plant into the hole you've prepared, making sure the top of the root ball is slightly above or level the ground. Pull your backfill soil mixture around the root ball in the hole, tamping as you go to remove air pockets. Then water thoroughly and cover with a one to two-inch layer of mulch.

Gardenality.com · Gardenality Genius · Zone 8A · 10° to 15° F · Comment About Feeding
I recommend feeding hydrangeas once or twice a year with a natural or organic plant food and/or mulch with organic compost. Many gardeners have success with just using the organic mulch. You can fertilizer in spring when new growth begins to emerge and again in late summer. Cease fertilization 2 months prior to the typical first frost date in your area. If you go with a chemical fertilizer I would suggest a well-balanced, slow-release shrub & tree type fertilizer. Do not fertilize plants with wilting foliage or that otherwise look diseased or stressed. Try to cure the problem first. If blooms turn pink and you want them blue, apply aluminum sulphate. To turn blue blooms to pink apply pelletized lime.

Gardenality.com · Gardenality Genius · Zone 8A · 10° to 15° F · Comment About Problems
I've seen no serious pest or disease problems with Frillibet hydrangea. Consistently wet soil can cause root rot. In the South, as with most other hydrangeas, direct summer sun in the afternoon can cause the foliage to wilt.

Gardenality.com · Gardenality Genius · Zone 8A · 10° to 15° F · Comment About Pruning
Frillibet hydrangea blooms on the growth it put on the previous summer. This means that even though it is tempting to cut them back in the winter, when they are only bare sticks jutting out of the ground, don't do it! The flower buds are already formed and hidden in those bare sticks, so don't cut them off if you want flowers.

French Hydrangeas should be pruned right after they flower when the color of the blooms start to fade in summer. Reach down into the bush and cut off the stems to about a foot high, right above a bud. The plant will put out new growth and form a nice round ball shaped bush. Do not prune French hydrangeas beyond two months prior to the first frost in your area.