Without hydrangeas, would summer as we know it exist? From Tokyo to Nantucket, their big, blowsy blooms are synonymous with warm nights and lazy days.

But don’t take hydrangeas for granted. With more than 75 species, the cheerful flowering shrub in your garden could be anything from a variety of H. arborescens (such as ‘Annabelle’, whose white pompom flowers are commonly seen along the American Eastern Seaboard) to H. macrophylla (a mophead native to Asia), or H. paniculata, with showy, cone-shaped flowers. There is even a climbing, vining hydrangea (Hydrangea petiolaris), which you can train to grow up a fence in a shady spot.

Are you planning to add a hydrangea (or three) to your garden? Wondering how best to arrange your showy snowball flowers in a vase? Or trying to figure out how to change the color of your pink hydrangeas to blue? We can help. Read on for tips and tricks for cohabiting with hydrangeas.

Photography by Takashi .M via Flickr.

Planting and Care Tips

Above: Native to Asia, hydrangeas are widely cultivated in Japan.

Depending on the species and cultivar (of which there are hundreds), hydrangeas can live more than 50 years if they’re happy in the spot you select for them. There’s a hydrangea that will thrive in your garden if you live in USDA zones 2 to 9. To find the right hydrangea for your climate and growing conditions, see Hydrangeas: A Field Guide to Planting, Care & Design.

Favorite Varieties

Above: From purple to blue to pale lavender: all these colors can appear on a single hydrangea shrub.

From mopheads to oakleaves and climbing varieties, hydrangeas are available in a wide variety of sizes, colors, and shapes. Bewildered by the vast selection at your local nursery? We asked the experts to share their favorites—for a complete list, see 10 Best Hydrangeas to Grow.