Hydrangeas grow on you
Hydrangeas are a great way to add even more colour to your blossoming summer garden.
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Updated: July 17, 2009 2:20 PM
Virtually every well tended garden is now going through its cycle of colour, but a certain flowering shrub is stealing the show.
Hydrangeas, next to roses, are perhaps the most common deciduous flowering shrub in zone 5 and 6 gardens around North America. The macrophylla or garden hydrangea was introduced to England in 1736, and since then, a whole series of beautiful plants have been developed for the home garden.
When folks ask me to recommend a good vine for a shady north wall, my first choice is a climbing hydrangea, anomala petiolaris. This deciduous, fast-growing vine has four inch long, dark, heart-shaped glossy leaves. It has aerial rootlets that cling to virtually anything standing still, and the plant itself will stretch to twenty feet or more, if left untrimmed. Its foliage appears quite early in the spring and lasts well into the autumn. In my opinion, it almost qualifies as an evergreen vine. The real feature of this attractive vine, however, is its large, flat white flower clusters that grow to six inches across and resemble the lace-cap varieties. This hydrangea is hardy to -25° C. which is surprising because of its lush appearance. It’s a winner in any garden.
It will tolerate some sun, but the foliage is far richer in a more shaded location. The Japanese form of this variety, called schizophragma, with its smaller, more elegant flowers in white or pink, is also very popular.
The white flowering hydrangea you see in fall gardens is most likely the P.G. variety, which is short for paniculata Grandiflora.
You’ve probably seen some in tree forms as many have been grafted that way. It is quite easy to select one strong branch and train it into a tree form. Believe it or not, this hydrangea is Prairie hardy, tolerating temperatures of -35 °C.
Given time, the plant itself can become almost a tree, stretching up to twenty feet in height, but most folks like to keep them trimmed back to around six feet to conform to most garden situations.
Its massive, pendulous cone-shaped flowers appear in mid-July and often last until late September when they take on a pinkish hue.
The foliage of this fine garden plant also turns a rich bronze in fall, so it is a colourful accent in your autumn garden.
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