Hydrangea Time

Hydrangea 'Bloomstruck' on the left, 'Pistachio on the right.
 'Lemon Wave' peaking above the bottom left corner.

I won't say that it has been a stellar year for hydrangeas. I don't think many have bloomed as much as they usually do. On the other hand, the panicle and oakleaf hydrangeas are really going to town.

Hydrangea quercifolia 'Alice' has always been a shy bloomer but a huge growing bush. This year it is blooming heavily. The bush itself is too big and I've thought about taking it out so maybe it is reading my thoughts.

Hydrangea quercifolia 'Alice'

And the change-over to pink is already happening -

Hydrangea quercifolia 'Alice' - blooms

'Pee Wee' is a much more mannered oakleaf hydrangea, about 3 - 4 feet -

Hydrangea quercifolia 'Pee Wee'

'Ruby Slippers' falls into the middle size-wise -

Hydrangea quercifolia 'Ruby Slippers'

And, finishing the oakleafs is 'Snowflake' which has the most beautiful bloom -

Hydrangea quercifolia 'Snowflake'

There has been an explosion of popularity among the panicle hydrangeas with so many introductions over the past few years. I find myself warming up more to them than in the past. I am more fond of the laceleaf-type blooms. 'Little Quick Fire', in a pot, has been really impressive -

Hydrangea paniculata 'Little Quick Fire'

Among my absolute favorites are the serrata types, the "mountain hydrangeas". A new one that showed up at the garden center last year was 'Spreading Beauty'. True to its word, it has spread a bit and will probably require some closer observation. Very pretty habit and blooms -

Hydrangea serrata 'Spreading Beauty'

'Tiny Tuff Stuff' is suffering from too much root competition from the Paperbark Maple next to it so I plan to move it to a better spot next year. It it goes one day without watering, it lets you know fast -

Hydrangea serrata 'Tiny Tuff Stuff'

'O-Amacha Nishiki' has always been a shy bloomer. We've seen more blooms on it this year than ever before (Michael takes credit for his diligent watering). It is a beautiful hydrangea with gold-dusted foliage and delicate pink blooms.

Hydrangea serrata 'O-Amacha Nishiki'

Some of the macrophylla types -

'Rotdrossel', a spectacular hydrangea with a terrible name that we saw at Joy Creek Nursery in 2019 came home with us. It is beginning to gain some height (at Joy Creek, it was over 6 feet tall). I loved that there are two colors of blooms on it -

Hydrangea macrophylla 'Rotdrossel')

'Lemon Wave' is another hydrangea that has performed much better this year and finally displayed some awe-inspiring blooms that match the unique foliage - 

Hydrangea macrophylla 'Lemon Wave'

'Summer Crush' has been a beautiful performer and the flower color is spectacular. This hydrangea is advertised as a pink color but, as you can see, it all depends on your soil -

Hydrangea macrophylla 'Summer Crush'

One thing that greatly annoys me to no end is when a "series" of plants appear. There are several in the hydrangea line, among them the "Cityline" series, the "Seaside Serenade" series and the most cringe-inducing of them all, the "Let's Dance" series. All of this started, of course, with the "Endless Summer" series. The hydrangeas are beautiful but what to do about the names? The people who name them seem determined to confuse everybody as much as they can. For example, the following hydrangea is listed as "Let's Dance Rave" - a terrible name and one that makes no sense when mouthed. I finally came to the conclusion that the best solution is just to say "The name of this hydrangea is 'Rave' and it is from the "Let's Dance" series. Ugh!

Hydrangea macrophylla 'Rave' ('Let's Dance' series)

Hydrangea 'Twist-n-Shout' (do I dare say that it is from the "Endless Summer" series?)

Hydrangea macrophylla 'Twist-n-Shout'

Hydrangea macrophylla 'Cityline Rio' ('Cityline series')

Hydrangea macrophylla 'Fire Island' ('Seaside Serenade' series)

Hydrangea macrophylla 'Outer Banks' ('Seaside Serenade' series)

Hydrangea macrophylla 'Pia' ('Pink Elf')

Hydrangea macrophylla 'Bloomstruck'

And ending with still one of the best - 'Nikko Blue' -

Hydrangea macrophylla 'Nikko Blue'

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy