in bloom

it only took 8 years to finally get some blooms on my hydrangea bush:



each year i get maybe one bloom on it before it browns and shrivels.  or else it doesn't bloom at all.  not this year:




i'm gobsmacked at the variety of colors of the blooms.  some bushes have pink blooms, other blue or purple. my bush seems to have an identity crisis - it has pink and purple blooms:




i've heard many wives' tales on getting full hydrangea blooms, in different colors.  i've heard about using epsom salt and burying rusty nails in the soil.  i never know when to cut the canes down.  sometimes they just pull out, they're so old.  i think we cut the canes last fall, but we've also cut them in the spring too.  i have such a crappy gardening thumb.

any suggestions, i'd be so happy for!