On Sun, 26 Oct 2003 21:17:14 GMT, "John"
wrote:

Please excuse a newbie question - I was told by a neighbor that I should
prune back my hydrangea and tiger liles to about 6" off the ground in late
October up here in Mass. Is this true, and should I also mix in some some
fertilizer now to help next year's blooms? Thanks!

This site has some info on hydrangea pruning:

http://www.conweb.com/hydrangea/pruning.shtml

In zone 7b-8, I simply clip off totally spent blooms in late fall and
totally dead wood or missed blooms in late spring. Be careful,
however. Dead *looking* stems often produce new leaves and flowers.

Tiger lilies (Lilium lancifolium) do not requre pruning. The foliage
dies down after blooming and the bloom/leaf stalk may be removed after
it has browned and dried. It's done. Next year's blooms come directly
from the bulb.