[PLANT PROFILE] HYDRANGEA PANICULATA

****************************************

HYDRANGEA

PANICULATA

Panicle Hydrangeas

Panicle Hydrangeas are the no fuss hydrangea with long lasting blooms. They range in size from large to compact depending on variety, allowing for many planting options in the landscape. A late blooming shrub, they become the autumn stars when most other shrubs are no longer blooming. Triggered by air temperature fluctuations and day length Hydrangea paniculata go through a color transformation starting with an early summer white that fades to shades of pink or red before drying to beige in the winter. Their nectar-rich flowers attract butterflies and bees late into the season, providing them with a vital food source.

******************************************

HYDRANGEA PANICULATA ATTRIBUTES

• Panicle Hydrangeas thrive in full sun or morning sun, a place in the garden that mophead hydrangeas don’t flourish.

• They bloom on new growth each summer so prune early in spring. There is also no risk of flower buds being harmed by the cold winter or late frost because they bloom on this years growth.

• As the rest of the garden winds down, the fall panicle hydrangeas take center stage.

• Flowers can even be left to dry on the plant in the fall and can stay looking good into the winter.

Quick Fire Hydrangea

hydrangea paniculata

**********

Limelight

Limelight Prime

Little Lime

Quick Fire

Little Quick Fire

Bobo (dwarf variety)

Grandiflora

Phantom

Fire Light

Hydrangea paniulata Bobo

View fullsize

USES

____________

* Variety of sizes means

there’s a perfect fit for

most situations

* Smaller specimens

ideal for foundation,

mass or container

planting

* Larger specimens ideal

for hedges and

back of the garden

View fullsize

View fullsize

SUMMER BLOOMING TREES & SHRUBS

************************************

JOIN US THIS SATURDAY MORNING

_______________

GARDEN WORKSHOP

FUNDAMENTALS FOR GARDEN DESIGN

SATURDAY JUNE 15TH // 11:00AM // VINEYARD GARDENS

Please join us in a hands on garden design workshop discussing how to plan a garden. Bring pictures to get questions answered. We look forward to seeing you there! 

View fullsize

************************************

SUMMER BLOOMING

TREES & SHRUBS

Shrubs and trees offer numerous benefits to your landscape

Shrubs and trees are the living structures that make a garden more dynamic. They add depth, weight, height and multiple season interest to a space. Not only do they enrich the landscape with colorful vegetation, flowers, fruit and winter interest, they provide food and shelter for a variety of species. Creating habitat and maximum biodiversity is essential to providing for pollinators. Adding native shrubs and trees transforms environments into climate resilient landscapes through erosion control, drought tolerance and flooding.

View fullsize

Hypericum & Hydrangea paniculata

************************************

Clethra alnifolia

SWEET PEPPERBUSH (Native)

Clethra is a wonderful addition to any garden, a versatile shrub that can thrive in most conditions. Typically found in open woodlands or swamps along the Atlantic coast this workhorse can flower from full sun to shade. Clethra prefers moist soil but can even adjust to dry, compact soil. It is a sweet scented native shrub that is a pollinator magnet. The white spire blooms lure butterflies, bees and hummingbirds. In addition, to being a hardy shrub, Clethera has year round interest. The deep green summer leaves turn yellow in autumn and in winter clusters of attractive seed pods remain.

• USES: Seaside plantings, mass plantings, hedges or rain gardens

Clethra alnifolia

Clethra (in foreground and flanking the stairs)

************************************

Vitex castus-agnus

CHASTE TREE

Vitex is a beautiful summer blooming shrub. A deciduous, multi-trunk shrub with fragrant lilac blooms backed by unique aromatic gray-green foliage. Bees and many other pollinators are attracted to its flowers and foliage. In addition, Vitex are deer resistant, moderately salt tolerant and have good drought tolerance once established. Full sun.

USES: Shrub border or train for use as a small tree to accent the landscape or patio.

Vitex castus-agnus with a Rose of Sharon

View fullsize

Vitex castus-agnus

************************************

Lagerstroemia

CRAPE MYRTLE

Crape Myrtle is a deciduous tree that performs best in full sun. Loved for their showy, long lasting summer flowers and their naturally sculpted trunks with attractive exfoliating bark. Crape Myrtle comes in a range of sizes from dwarf 2-3’ tall shrubs to standard tree size of about 20-30’ tall. The larger ones are often pollarded, a type of hard pruning that keeps the plant smaller and blooms more profuse.

USE: Focal tree, a hedge or as part of a border

View fullsize

***************************

Hypericum

ST JOHNS WORT

Midsummer this outstanding pollinator shrub is adorned with vibrant yellow blooms with abundant pollen bearing stamens, backed by gray blue fine textured foliage. During the winter the attractive three chamber seed pods remain, offering food for birds and late season visual interest. St John’s Wort prefers moist well drained soil but are highly adaptable and can withstand drought and soil compaction. They grow naturally on rocky ledges, in sandy areas and woodland openings. Prune hard in spring . They bloom on the new growth.

We carry 3 or 4 cultivars. Hypericum hidcote is very popular with it’s blue foliage and longevity.

USE: Mass plantings borders or hedges

View fullsize

View fullsize

***************************

Hydrangea

paniculata

Panicle Hydrangeas are the no fuss hydrangea with long lasting blooms. They are the autumn stars when most other shrubs are no longer blooming. Hydrangea panicle goes through a color transformation starting with early summer white that fades to shades of pink or red before drying to beige in the winter. Their nectar-rich flowers attract butterflies and bees late into the season, providing them with a vital food source. They adapt to full sun or part sun. Some popular panicle hydrangeas we carry are Limelight, Limelight Prime, Little Lime and Bobo. Check out our latest blog with all the varieties of hydrangea we carry.

USES: Natural fence or border, focal point, erosion control or containers.

***************************

garden tips

JUNE

hydrangeas

learn more

[PLANT PROFILE] HYDRANGEA

HYDRANGEAS

If you have a garden then most likely there is a good spot for a hydrangea. There are so many different varieties, sizes and light requirements that there is something for everyone. Panicle hydrangeas are your late bloomers that can withstand full sun; mopheads are shade loving hydrangeas; there are dwarf options for smaller gardens; large ones for back of garden; and most of them do well in containers. Oak leaf hydrangeas are bee magnets and there is even a northeast native that provides a valuable food source for the hydrangea sphinx moth. Hydrangeas mix well in both the cultivated and natural garden with their broad leaves complimenting the finer foliage textures of other plants and shrubs.

******************************************

HYDRANGEA

MACROPHYLLA

Big Leaf, Mophead or Lacecap

The genus name Hydrangea comes from hydor meaning "water" and aggeion meaning "vessel", in reference to the cup-like flower.

• A deciduous shrub with a rounded habit that typically grows 3-6’ tall and as wide unless damaged by harsh winters or pruned smaller.

• Mophead Hydrangeas produce ball shaped flower clusters

• Lacecap Hydrangeas produce small flowers surrounded by a ring of larger flowers

View fullsize

Lacecap Hydrangea

Endless Summer, a newer macrophylla(mophead) that blooms on new growth instead of last years stems, so flower buds don’t get frosted in a severe winter or late spring frost.

GROWING HYDRANGEA MACROPHYLLA

******************************************

• Best grown in rich, medium moisture, well-drained soils in part shade. Tolerates full sun only if grown in consistently moist soils.

• Soil pH affects the flower color of most cultivars except white (blue in highly acidic soils and lilac to pink in slightly acidic to alkaline soils). Add aluminum sulfate to the soil to make the flowers bluer or add lime to the soil to make the flowers pinker. Begin soil treatments well in advance of flowering, as in late autumn or early spring.

• Plants generally need little pruning. If needed, prune immediately after flowering by cutting back flowering stems to a pair of healthy buds. Prune out weak or winter-damaged stems in late winter/early spring.

• Best to mulch plants year-round with 3" of shredded bark, peat or compost.

• Winter hardy but planted in sheltered locations gives additional winter protection. Regardless of protective measures taken, most bigleaf hydrangeas simply will not bloom (or will bloom poorly) in some years due to a variety of winter conditions. Some newer cultivars have been selected that flower on both old and new wood.

  'Hydranges Bloomstruck' blooms on both old and new growth, has strong stems and is resistant to powdery mildew.

Nikko Blue

hydrangea macrophylla

*********

Nikko Blue

Endless Summer

Bloomstruck

Blue Enchantress

Penny Mac

Glowing Embers

Lanarth White

Blushing Bride

Hydrangea Seaside Serenade Cape Lookout

USES

____________

* Group or mass in the

shrub border.

* A specimen or accent

for foundations and

other locations

near homes or patios.

* Hedges

* Containers

Late season spent flowers of Hydrangea macrophylla

****************************************

HYDRANGEA

PANICULATA

Panicle Hydrangeas

Panicle Hydrangeas are the no fuss hydrangea with long lasting blooms. They range in size from large to compact depending on variety, allowing for many planting options in the landscape. A late blooming shrub, they become the autumn stars when most other shrubs are no longer blooming. Triggered by air temperature fluctuations, hydrangea panicle go through a color transformation starting with an early summer white that fades to shades of pink or red before drying to beige in the winter. Their nectar-rich flowers attract butterflies and bees late into the season, providing them with a vital food source.

View fullsize

View fullsize

Panicle Hydrangea Little Lime

HYDRANGEA PANICULATA ATTRIBUTES

******************************************

• Panicle Hydrangeas thrive in full sun or morning sun, a place in the garden that mophead hydrangeas don’t flourish.

• Bloom on new growth each summer so there is no risk of flower buds being harmed by the cold winter or late frost.

• As the rest of the garden winds down, the fall panicle hydrangeas take center stage.

• Flowers can even be left to dry on the plant in the fall and can stay looking good into the winter.

Quick Fire Hydrangea

hydrangea paniculata

**********

Limelight

Limelight Prime

Little Lime

Quick Fire

Little Quick Fire

Bobo (dwarf variety)

Bobo

USES

____________

* Variety of sizes means

there’s a perfect fit for

most situations

* Smaller specimens ideal for

foundation, mass or

container planting

* Larger specimens ideal for

hedges and back of the

garden

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

****************************************

HYDRANGEA

QUERCIFOLIA

Oakleaf Hydrangea

Oak leaf hydrangeas have beautiful large leaves similarly shaped to an oak leaf. The flower panicles are large, white and attract many bees. In autumn the leaves turn to a reddish hue. foliage transitions from green to maroon, falling off in winter to reveal beautiful exfoliating bark. Beyond its impressive foliage, the flowers also put on an exquisite show, changing from white to a stunning pink or red as the plant matures. Oak leaf hydrangeas prefer partial shade.

View fullsize

Oak Leaf hydrangea on the highline in NYC vibrating with bees.

****************************************

HYDRANGEA

ANOMALA PETIOLARIS

Climbing Hydrangea

“First it sleeps, then it creeps and then it leaps.” This old adage seems to speak directly to the climbing hydrangea. This vine is slow to start but once it gets establish after a couple years it leaps! A vigorous vine with lush green foliage blanketed by beautiful lace cap white blooms. This hydrangea has year round interest, with their long lasting summer blooms that dry beautifully on the vine in autumn and when the leaves have fallen gorgeous exfoliating bark is revealed. Climbing hydrangea can thrive in full sun to shade. It can be planted on sturdy structures, like stone or brick walls, chimneys, and houses

****************************************

HYDRANGEA

ARBORESCENS

Smooth Hydrangea

Hydrangea arborescens, our native hydrangea, is found along rocky wooded slopes, ravines, streambanks, and bluff bases in the eastern United States. Smooth hydrangea is the host plant of the hydrangea sphinx moth and attacts butterflies, moths, pollinators and songbirds. The blooms are on new wood and can be pruned back close to the ground in late winter. Several cultivars have flowers that make a ball-shaped bloom. It is low growing and stacks well beneath taller trees and shrubs.

Hydrangea arborescens cultivars we carry:

Annabelle and the newer Invincible Spirit

View fullsize

Hydrangea Annabelle

USES

———————

*Planted in mass

*Native specimen

*Pollinator garden

*Rain garden

*Shade garden

*Grows well on a slope,

naturalized area or

in a woodland

****************************************

FERTILIZE HYDRANGEAS IN EARLY SUMMER

All hydrangeas tend to grow better when they are fertilized, even the native ones.

If you missed feeding your plants early in the season when you did your spring clean up, you can make up for that now (before August 1). The plants that respond best to fertilizer this time of year are the rebloomers: big leaf (macrophylla), mountain (serrata) and woodland/smooth (arborescens) varieties. You may want to help them produce those reblooming flowers to carry your garden through to the end of the season

****************************************

gardening tips

JUNE

events

garden talks at the nursery

Hydrangea [illustration by karen blackerby logan]