I agree with the advice on Hydrangea macrophylla, but not H. quercifolia.
My opinion is if you have to prune H. quercifolia, you planted it in the
wrong place (they can get very big, but are beautiful). Of course, for
both, prune any dead wood.
_________________
John Henry Wheeler
Washington, DC
USDA Zone 7
"Stephen Henning" wrote in message
news
"junkyardcat" wrote:

I have several Nikko Blue Hydrangea plants. We had a hard freeze about a
month and a half ago, and all of my plants turned brown and crispy (in
other
words, they look dead). Are they dead, or is that the way they look in
the
Winter? If I cut them to the ground now, will they come back up in the
Spring?

That is normal. Nikko Blue Hydrangea is a type of Hydrangea
macrophylla. Macrophylla and quercifolia (oakleaf) bloom on last years
wood. Don't cut them back until after they bloom. They bloom on old
wood. They should be pruned immediately after flowering or not at all!
When pruning just cut out the old stalks that just finished blooming.

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Cheers, Steve Henning in Reading, PA USA
http://home.earthlink.net/~rhodyman