Blue Hydrangea help? (flowers, hydrangeas, spring, leaves)

[Kayekaye]

I have several hydrangeas, 2 of them are fine, larger plants with many many blooms.

Two others are nothing but trouble.

This one has blue blooms and is very temperamental. I have looked it up and over the 8 years I have tried each one of the suggestions with varied success and usually no success. The first year the previous owner cut off all 20 blooms as she left moving out the last day. Totally stunned me. But I thought oh well they will come back next year. Left it alone and waited
Nope. not a one. Left it alone and the next year it had one bloom
Next year nothing.
Cut it down and it came back with no bloom
left it alone it came back with one bloom
Last couple years nothing agan.
Tried both cutting out the old wood and then leaving it.
Finally had 15 blooms all blue and beautiful
This year nothing again. I'm leaving it alone again and not cutting it down this year.

In the spring the center of the plant seems dead and the green comes from the outside. I have pulled this out some years and not some years. It doesn't seem to make any difference.

It's just so erratic I can't figure out what the heck to do with it. I know this picture is probably too small. I know she sprinkled something aluminum or something to encourage the blue but I haven't done this in the 8 years I have lived here and they still look blue when they bloom.
But how do I identify which type of plant this.

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[Hemlock140]

They bloom on the previous year's new growth, so when pruning you eliminate the next year's flowers. You should wait until spring when the new green buds start to swell, then just snip off the old dead flowers right above the first set of buds. In a very cold winter well below freezing you may lose more blooms as the tips die back. If it gets too big you can completely remove a few of the tallest branches at the base, then the others left will still bloom. It also helps blooms if you let it get dry to the point where the leaves just start to wilt before watering until you see flowers form, then water regularly all summer.

[Kayekaye]

Thanks I'll try that this year. Yes it does get very well below zero here and the tips do die off. Then does that mean that branch is dead and not going to bloom? Should I cut that off or leave it?

[Hemlock140]

It most likely won't bloom on those, but cut above the next set of green buds below the dead
part. If it gets that cold your blooms are not going to be that plentiful compared to a warmer winter climate. Here we get some dieback at about +10F. Hardiness varies by variety, most are between zones 3 and 8.