Hydrangeas are a fan favorite around here and knowing when, how and whether to prune them will have them looking their best year after year – if you follow a couple of rules to remember.

If your hydrangea is just blooming now in late summer/fall, put it on your calendar to prune it in late winter or early spring. This time frame is appropriate for Limelight, Quickfire, Burgundy Lace and Annabelle hydrangeas (which is the classic “snowball” type). PeeGee hydrangeas – which produce creamy white flowers in late summer that age to rosy pink – are also in this category. These varieties bloom on new wood, meaning the blooms come on stems that grow new each year.

Other hydrangeas bloom on what is called “old wood,” meaning the buds for next year’s flowers are set on the growth that happened this season. This occurs with oakleaf and bigleaf hydrangeas, lace caps, climbing and all varieties that bloom blue or pink – like endless summer and summer crush – among others. You should prune these types before August… so not again more this year.

But the bottom line is… unless you need to control the size or shape of your hydrangea, you don’t NEED to prune at all. If you choose to prune, cutting out the oldest, biggest canes will help to control the size and can reinvigorate the shrub.

To get bigger flowers, cut them all the way back to the ground, but also consider that leaving some stems 18” to 24” high. That can help reduce flopping next year.

MINNEAPOLIS — Criminal charges have been filed against a St. Paul man in connection with a multi-vehicle crash Wednesday night in Minneapolis that left one person dead and several others injured.

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said Talon Covie-Carderell Walker, 29, is now charged with one count of criminal vehicular homicide.

According to a criminal complaint filed in the case, prosecutors believe Walker was driving a Chevy Avalanche pickup truck at high speeds when he started a chain-reaction crash on the I-94 exit to Dunwoody Boulevard on Wednesday evening. A total of seven vehicles were involved.

The State Patrol said Natalie Gubbay, 26, who was driving one of the other vehicles, died at the scene. Several others were hospitalized following the crash, including Walker. Two children were also among those injured.

The complaint alleges Walker was driving nearly 100 mph at the time of the crash. Investigators also said an open bottle of liquor was found in Walker’s vehicle. Results of a blood alcohol test are pending, according to the complaint, but investigators said Walker has previous driving convictions and lost his license in 2021.

RELATED: 1 dead after mass car crash on I-94 exit ramp

MINNEAPOLIS — This week union workers who build planes for Boeing rejected a new contract deal.

64% of the 32,000 machinists voted against the deal in another major setback for the company. The strike that has halted most of Boeing’s aircraft production for over a month will continue.

The strike is further delaying deliveries for many Boeing customers who are already dealing with production delays.

It could soon have a big impact across the country, from concerns over plane safety to the cost of flying.

Hassan Shahidi with the Flight Safety Foundation says many airlines were already waiting for Boeing airplanes before the strike started.

“Prior to the strike there were already challenges,” Shahidi says. “This strike is exacerbating the situation even further.”

Shahidi says some of the airlines may have aging airplanes that will have to stay in use longer than the companies had planned for, but he argues that is a minor issue and he is not worried about passenger safety.

“All aircraft that are flying are certified by the FAA, are airworthy and safe,” Shahidi says.

He argues a much larger issue is how the strike will impact the airline industry’s plans to grow in the coming years.

He says most of the orders for new Boeing airplanes are from airlines that are expanding to meet passenger demand.

“To have other companies trying to come in and meet that gap is going to be challenging in terms of both supplies, labor and processes that are going to be needed to produce the highest quality of airplanes,” Shahidi says.

According to Delta’s website, the airline recently ordered 100 Boeing 737’s with an option to buy 30 more.

Those planes are scheduled to be delivered sometime next year and the company says some of those airplanes will be deployed to MSP.

KARE 11 reached out to Delta to see if the Boeing strike could affect the delivery of those planes, and whether the strike could impact Delta’s ability to add new flights in the coming years, but we haven’t heard back from the company at this time.

Sun Country says their entire fleet is made up of 43 Boeing airplanes.

A company spokesperson says all of Sun Country’s airplanes are “mid-life aircraft” meaning they are purchased used from other companies.

This spokesperson says this unique business model will insulate Sun Country from the impacts of the Boeing strike, and the company won’t see a shortage of airplanes anytime soon.

KARE 11 also reached out to the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport to see if the airport and local travelers will see any impacts of the Boeing strike.

An MSP spokesperson sent KARE-11 the following statement:

“We do not anticipate any immediate impacts at MSP from the Boeing strike. While a strike could push back delivery of aircraft to airlines and lead to future schedule adjustments by those airlines, any impacts would not be expected to affect MSP any more than other airports across the country.”