Hydrangeas, Ho Hum?

by Susan | Jul 30, 2017 | Plants I Dig

At best, I have a tenuous relationship with hydrangeas. Sometimes I love them and sometimes they seem like a boring old grandma shrub with little to bring to the garden. But just this week I was going through the upper shade garden and surprise, surprise there are many hydrangeas there. Did they sneak in while I wasn’t looking? Actually, I probably planted them as a test for my clients and there they are looking, I have to admit, fabulous.

When I’m thinking about using a new variety or type of plant in client gardens I test it out in my garden first so I know how it behaves. Hydrangeas are a long-time client favorite so it makes sense that there are some in my garden. I usually think of them as pretty blobs of color, good background, nice color but not really spectacular. However, I think anyone could agree to have these beauties in their garden.

When black stems became the rage several varieties of hydrangeas were introduced. Two of them are in my garden and while having the same stem they have different habits and color in the flower.

Hydrangea Zorro is a lace cap style that starts out fairly pinky blue and then changes shade to purple blue with lots of variations in color. Strong stems keep the flowers erect and impressive. This one is grown with very little direct sun but a bright open canopy.

Hydrangea Zebra is another black stemmed variety. It has stunning pure white blooms with that are a lace cap variety but the blooms are so closely packed they tend to look like the mop-head variety. It is grown with the same canopy and good shade. It likes moisture and good rich soil.

Walking on the dark side gives us the beautiful Hydrangea ‘Plum Passion’. The flowers are great but the real stunning part of this Hydrangea is the fuzzy leaf. The structure is big with a great background presence. I’ve grown it in a container by a front door and it maintains its leaves with a wandering long stemmed shape. This has been one of my favorite hydrangeas for years though most people would not recognize it as a hydrangea. Not a fan of direct sun, give this beauty shade and protection from strong winds.

Along with black stems, I do love lime colors in the garden. In a shaded area the bright lime really stands out.

Lemon daddy Hydrangea does that with very lime leaves. The mop-head blooms are white and stay true to color throughout the season. The leaf is electric lime with good variation in color within the leaf. Slugs occasionally eat the leaf so that can be a little discouraging as most hydrangeas don’t have a big slug problem. Lemon Daddy can take some morning sun but dislikes the hot afternoon sun. Good moisture is preferred but can take some drought too.

Two must haves are Lime light and Little lime, almost the same except for the size. Limelight can be 4 – 6 feet tall with blooms about 12” across while Little Lime stays more at the 2-3 foot height with blooms about 6” across. Both have tiny little blooms packed on the stems. It is a paniculata type with loose cone shaped blooms. These are grown in light shade with good moisture. They can take some drought but not hot afternoon sun.

I love the shape of paniculata style hydrangea. Fire and Ice is another paniculata style Hydrangea. This time instead of a green stem it has a good red stem. The contrast in the lime/white blooms and the red stems is very effective in a shade garden. The fall color tends towards red as the weather cools. Coming in at about 4 feet in the garden it makes a good background shrub for the back of a low border.

The oak leafed hydrangea ‘Jet Stream’ is a beautiful example of Hydrangea quercifolia with blooms held away from the main stem so they can be seen individually. The blooms have a tendency to be heavy so will sometimes droop when the bloom is especially large. As they get a little older they will have thicker stems so the blooms will stay up better. Jet Stream likes a little more sun and the thick oak shaped leaves will not burn so easy in the extra sun. They have a lovely pink tinge to the blooms as they fade in the fall.

Well as I write this I realize I really do like hydrangeas. In fact, I haven’t finished telling you all about the other ones in my garden. In my next post, I will share my favorite unusual varieties. Fragrance, deep velvet color and climbers are also here in my garden. Stay tuned!

Hydrangea styles:

Paniculata

Genus: Hydrangea

This plant produces gracefully arching branches and pyramidal clusters of white, then pink-tinged to dusky purple blossoms.

Noteworthy Characteristics: This is one of the most cold-hardy species. It may be grown as a single-stemmed specimen or as a multi-stemmed shrub.

Care: Grow in moist, but well-drained soil, in sun to partial shade. H. paniculata blooms on the current season’s wood; it may be cut back to a few buds to form a framework in spring to produce larger flowers, or allowed to grow with minimal pruning.

Not subject to frost damage because they bloom on new wood.

Overview

Height 15 ft. to 30 ft.
Spread 10 ft. to 15 ft.
Growth Habit Clumps
Growth Pace Fast Grower
Light Full Sun to Part Shade
Moisture Medium Moisture
Maintenance Moderate
Characteristics Showy Flowers, Showy Seed Heads
Bloom Time Summer

Macrophylla ( Mop Head)

Genus: Hydrangea

This is one of the most widely recognized species of hydrangeas. It boasts a plentiful number of cultivars. The species is divided into two groups: the Hortensias (or “mopheads”) have globe-shaped flowers made up of large male flowers, and the Lacecaps have flattened flower heads, with central, female blossoms ringed in larger, male blossoms

Noteworthy Characteristics: Lacy, horizontal blossoms and large globes of flowers in rich colors. Many different colors have been developed but some can go through a color change with addition of soil additives. Lime soil will make some blooms pink while acid soil can push the blooms to blue.

Care: Grow in moist, but well-drained soil, in sun to partial shade. Provide shelter from drying winds. These hydrangeas flower on the previous season’s wood, and can be maintained by cutting back just to the first pair of buds beneath the old flower in spring.

Overview

Height 3 ft. to 6 ft.
Spread 6 ft. to 10 ft.
Growth Habit Clumps
Growth Pace Moderate Grower
Light Full Sun to Part Shade
Moisture Medium Moisture
Maintenance Low
Characteristics Showy Flowers, Showy Seed Heads Drying
Bloom Time Fall, Summer

Hydrangea quercifolia (Oakleaf)

Oakleaf hydrangeas originated along the sandy streams of the southeastern United States, and they are more drought tolerant than many other hydrangeas. Their matte green leaves are coarsely textured and deeply lobed, and in fall they turn red and purple. White flower heads form in spring, and as summer draws to a close they turn shades of pink, green, and ecru. -Nellie Neal, Regional Picks: Southeast, Fine Gardening issue #127

Care: Moist, well-drained soil.

Overview

Height 3 ft. to 6 ft.
Spread 6 ft. to 10 ft.
Growth Pace Moderate Grower
Light Full Sun to Part Shade
Moisture Medium Moisture
Maintenance Low
Characteristics Showy Fall Foliage, Showy Flowers
Bloom Time Early Summer, Late Spring, Spring,Summer
Flower Color White, pink

Plants I Dig: Autumn Color

by Susan | Oct 1, 2016 | Plants I Dig

I’m again being drug into fall kicking and screaming. Slowly the soft colors start to beguile me and convince me that its just another lovely color change. But, I know in my head that winter isn’t far behind with color gone except for gray and green outside the window, very seldom is it white. This, the beginning of autumn sees pinks, burgundy, and soft crushed purple starting to show. The leaves haven’t had enough cold to turn yet and apples are trying to hold on to their branches. If you look up images of fall colors you usually see the future progression of fall. Brilliant reds, vibrant orange, shocking yellow caused by cold temps and sometimes frost. But right now, in the ‘inbetween’, soft colors abound. Blue of Caryopteris with the red purple of Panicum Shannondoah holds its own in the lowering autumn light. Coleus seem more vibrant as the summer flowers start to fade. Hydrangeas in amazing variations sing every color of the rainbow. Blue, Purple, dark green, soft pink, soft red, and buff colors all intermingle, sometimes even on the same plant.

Hydrangea Zebra with black stems is lovely with fading flowers.

Trycirtus – Toad Lily stays dormant until early fall. The out of this world flowers are not to be missed.

plantswoman-design-pennistetum-first-knight

Pennisetum ‘First Knight’ – A hardy Pennisetum with vibrant deep purple and great structure.

Lusicious Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ – Deep Raspberry blooms that continue to color to deep red.

plantswoman-design-chocolate-silk-mimosa-tree

Summer Chocolate Mimosa Tree – Leaves, always deep purple, contrast with the lighter purple Agastaches Blue Boa. The Albizia Julibrissin ‘Summer Chocolate’ leaf takes on a deeper hue then turns brilliant orange before dropping off.

Cercis ‘Rising Sun’ – Amazing bright green leaves color apricot gold. New growth is touched with burgundy before turning bright green

Impatiens omeiana – Variegated leaves sprout in spring and are attractive. The real show starts in fall with bright yellow flowers. It’s a hardy must have for fall flowers.

Hydrangea Panniculata

Variegated Beauty Berry

Hydrangea Little Lime

Crimson Fans

Plants I Dig: Summer Hydrangea Madness

by Susan | Jun 24, 2016 | Plants I Dig

The beginning of Summer marks the beginning of hydrangea season. Still in my minds eye is a picture of the long hydrangea border at Martha Stewart’s house. I have long loved Hydrangeas and each year there are new ones introduced. Several in the past couple of years have made it into my garden and they are fabulous. Here are some of my new favorites.

Hydrangea ‘Zorro’

Zorro is a vigorous rounded but upright deciduous shrub with deep purple-black stems, dark green leaves that color well in autumn and flattened lace cap flower heads bearing ultramarine ray florets with occasional white centers. The key word here is vigorous. In the past there have been introductions of black-stemmed hydrangeas that have not lived up to their hype. But the color of the flower of Zorro is beautiful and consistent, not given to reverting to pink (in my experience).

Hydrangea ‘Zebra’

This hydrangea also has black stems. Instead of blue flowers the glowing white flower heads and lush green foliage provide a brilliant contrast to the near-black stems. A mop-head style of flower instead of the lace cap of the Zorro it is a beautiful addition of white to a shady bed. Zebra has a long blooming season and a tough but undemanding nature. The leaves also color well in autumn.

Hydrangea aspera ‘Plum Passion’

This lovely Dan Hinkley introduction has great dark purple leaves. Being an aspera cultivar the growth is rangy and the leaves textured and fuzzy. The foliage alone is worth a place in your garden. When the delicate white lace cap type flower comes out of a tight purple bud you will fall in love all over again. The contrast of Plum Passion’s wispy flowers floating above the robust heavy textured purple leaves is amazing.

Hydrangea ‘Lemon Daddy’

This is an amazingly vigorous bright yellow-foliaged seedling (not a sport) of Hydrangea ‘Big Daddy’. Lemon Daddy grows 3′ tall and about 5′ wide and is adorned with huge mophead flowers that open white and turn either blue or a light pink. They should turn blue in our acidic soil. The foliage alone is worth growing it, simply cut off the flowers if they offend (yes I really would). I’ve tried Hydrangea ‘lemon wave’ in the garden and it was so wimpy I finally took it out. This one stands proud and bright green.

Hydrangea ‘Quick Fire’

Standing at the back of the bed is hydrangea ‘quick fire’, a beautiful paniculata variety with red stems, turning a fiery hot pink/red in the fall. The flowers are not a big clumpy head that can get damaged in our sometimes-rainy summers. This flower shakes off the rain and doesn’t brown out like some of the paniculatas. They have a combination of sterile and non-sterile flowers like a lace cap but are cone shaped like a paniculata.

This last photo is a hydrangea that was removed from a garden that came to live in the woodland two years ago. It was pink when it first came and it would be re-homed if its color didn’t improve. The threat was heard and this year it is a luscious purple color. No special amendments were used; the native soil must have a low (acid) PH. I sometimes put fine fir bark around all plants that love acid PH.

Hydrangeas need part shade for best foliage and flower color but a blast of sun through the day is not a bad thing. Full shade will decrease flowers. All of these are fully hardy in zone 7 and will be happy with good water.

Hydrangea Tips:

Water : Good summer water
Site : Part shade with some direct sun.
Soil : Loose, rich, leafy soil with acid PH. Many cultivars do not change with soil PH.
Zone: Zone 7