- Bigleaf hydrangea. Hydrangea macrophylla, colloquially referred to as bigleaf hydrangeas are the most common. ...
- Smooth Hydrangea. Smooth hydrangeas are a larger shrub also referred to as wild hydrangeas, native to the United States but also readily available in the UK.
- Panicle Hydrangea. Hydrangea paniculata, referred to as panicle hydrangeas, are known for having long panicles from which giant flowers bloom.
- Oakleaf Hydrangea. The oak leaf hydrangea has foliage similar to oak trees. ...
- Climbing Hydrangea. The Hydrangea animola ssp. Petiolaris, or Climbing Hydrangea is one of the most distinct types because it is a vine.
- Mophead Hydrangeas.
- Smooth Hydrangeas.
- Panicle Hydrangeas.
- Lacecap Hydrangeas.
- Oakleaf Hydrangeas.
- Mountain Hydrangeas.
- Climbing Hydrangeas.
How to prune different kinds of hydrangeas?
serrata)
- Remove Dead or Damaged Stems in Early Spring
- Prune for Shape. If major pruning is necessary, wait until the shrub has finished flowering to trim back stems to a pair of healthy buds, using bypass pruners.
- Prune to Control Size. ...
- Special Pruning to Rejuvenate a Neglected Plant
Where to plant hydrangeas to give them the best start?
With time, the branch will form its own root system and may be transplanted to a new location.
- Dig a small trench near your hydrangea plant.
- Bend a branch down to the trench so it touches the soil in the middle of the branch (six to 12 inches of branch should extend past the trench).
- Make scratches in the bark where the branch touches the trench soil.
- Fill in the trench and place a paver, brick or stone on top.
What tree looks like a hydrangea?
Tree Hydrangea Care
- Light. Tree hydrangeas grow well in full sun to partial shade, meaning at least four hours of direct sunlight on most days.
- Soil. These shrubs can handle a variety of soil types, including sandy, loamy, and even clay provided that there is good drainage.
- Water. ...
- Temperature and Humidity. ...
- Fertilizer. ...
How to identify Hydrangea type?
- Colors also beguile with deep blues, vibrant pinks, pristine whites, lavender, and rose. ...
- Many Hydrangeas are fragrant and others feature a wonderful foliage adding glorious fall color to the landscape.
- Native to Asia and the US, there are about 70–75 species of hydrangeas but only 6 species are commonly grown in our gardens.
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How do I know what kind of hydrangea I have?
If the flower buds open a green color, then turn white, and as they age turn green or greenish brown, you have an arborescens type. If the flowers open white and stay white until they get old, then you probably have a macrophylla type. White flowering macrophylla types are less common, but they do exist.
What is the best hydrangea to buy?
Top 10 Best Hydrangea Varieties from Proven Winners ®'Limelight' H. paniculata. ... Little Lime® H. paniculata. ... Incrediball® H. arborescens. ... Fire Light ® Panicle hydrangea. ... Bobo® H. ... Pinky Winky® H. ... Invincibelle® Spirit II H. ... Little Quick Fire® H.More items...
What are the hardiest hydrangeas?
Panicle hydrangea are considered the most cold hardy of the species. They are reliable shrubs or small trees that require minimal fuss for success.
Which hydrangea is the prettiest?
Limelight hydrangeas are known for their large blooms that gleam in full sun. The new Limelight Prime panicle hydrangea does everything better than the original Limelight, from bud to bloom and beyond. It blooms earlier, with bolder, brighter flower color and even stronger stems.
Which hydrangeas are easiest to grow?
Oakleaf varieties are the easiest type of hydrangeas for beginners to grow. Why are oakleaf hydrangeas so easy? They aren't picky! Oakleaf hydrangeas can tolerate colder weather, handle more sun, withstand drought, are more disease/pest resistant and grow in sandy soil better than other hydrangeas.
Which hydrangea blooms the longest?
Reblooming hydrangeas flower on both new and old growth, meaning you can enjoy flowers from June until the first frost. They'll continue to bloom long after other flowering shrubs and perennials have stopped. Long lasting blooms of blue, violet, pink, white, or chartreuse add brilliant pops of color to any garden.
What is the best time to plant hydrangeas?
Fall is the best season to plant hydrangeas, followed by early spring. The idea is to give the shrub plenty of time to establish a healthy root system before blooming. The best time of day to plant is early morning or late afternoon. The cooler parts of the day offer protection against heat stress.
What is the best location to plant a hydrangea?
Where to plant hydrangeas:The best location is one that receives morning sun and afternoon shade. ... Consider mature size, give it plenty of room to grow.Choose an area with excellent drainage. ... Don't plant beneath a tree—the root competition and lack of sunlight will prevent them from thriving.More items...•
Do hydrangeas need full sun or shade?
Most hydrangeas prefer only morning sun. Yet one type of hydrangea can soak up the sun all day: the panicle hydrangea. While they can stand the sun, these do just fine in partial shade, too. Plus, panicle hydrangeas are the hardiest hydrangeas.
What should I look for when buying a hydrangea?
Choose your cultivar before you go searching for the plant to get the flower color and foliage you want.Look at the stems of the rough-leafed hydrangea to make sure they are straight, not bent over from drought. ... Inspect the leaves of the hydrangea to make sure they are vigorous, green and perky.More items...
What is the most fragrant hydrangea?
Golden Crane® Hydrangea This rare and precocious shrub, with large lacecaps of white and chartreuse not only blooms in late spring - among the earliest of all hydrangeas to bloom - but is sweetly scented, a trait very rare in this genus. The jasmine-like scent will perfume an entire garden!
How do I keep my hydrangeas purple?
With a pH between 6 and 7, the blooms turn purple or bluish-pink. To lower your pH, add garden sulfur or aluminum sulfate to your soil. To raise the pH, use ground lime. Follow the directions on the product you use, and retest your soil to make sure the pH is in the range you want.
What is unique hydrangea?
'Unique' is a particularly hardy panicle hydrangea that adapts well to training as a tree form. Remove all lower branches to form a central leader, which becomes the trunk of the tree. Plants flower on new wood.
What color are hydrangeas?
Gardeners who crave colors from the cool side of the color wheel, including pink, purple, white, and blue, will delight in the mix of hydrangea hues that are available, sometimes even on a single shrub. Hydrangeas are best planted in moist, rich ...
What color are hydrangeas in Endless Summer?
Hydrangeas in the Endless Summer series defy harsh winters by blooming on both new and old wood. 'BloomStruck' is the fourth introduction in the series, sporting deep purple or rose blossoms on 4-foot plants. If you're confused about the effect soil pH has on bloom color, look for the Color Me Pink or Color Me Blue garden lime and sulfur kits to take the guesswork out of your hydrangea flower color.
What is the blue deckle hydrangea?
Hydrangea serrata 'Blue Deckle' is a dwarf lacecap type that will thrive in the dappled sunlight of tall deciduous trees in zone 6 and warmer gardens . This late-blooming type that peaks in July and August has more in store for you when autumn arrives since the brilliant red and purple leaves rival any fall foliage display sought by leaf peepers.
What shrubs bloom in the fall?
This medium-sized mop head hydrangea blooms in the fall in acidic or neutral soil .
What is a limelight hydrangea?
Limelight Hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight') Green flowers are the little black dresses of the gardening world: they flatter all situations. The chartreuse flowers of 'Limelight' hydrangeas age to a mellow pink as the season progresses.
What is the commercial name for the Abetwo cultivar of H. arborescens?
If sometimes plant breeders are guilty of hyperbole in their plant name selections, this is not the case with Incrediball —the commercial name for the 'Abetwo' cultivar of H. arborescens. In spite of the huge, densely packed 12-inch flowers the shrub produces in abundance, the sturdy stems on this plant will not allow the flowers on this white hydrangea to flop in the mud. One potted plant will make a gorgeous anchor in your summer border, or you can plant several for a showy hedge.
How many varieties of hydrangeas are there?
Here are the six varieties of hydrangea bushes:
What are hydrangea flowers?
Hydrangea flowers are long-lasting, showy blooms that have various shapes and sizes. The stunning flower heads can be rounded domes, flat lacy clusters, pointed cone shapes, or huge ball-like flowers.
How Big Do Hydrangea Get?
Most hydrangeas are large shrubs that grow between 3 and 5 ft. (1 – 1.5 m) high. The tallest types of hydrangeas are climbing hydrangeas ( Hydrangea anomala) that reach up to 50 ft. (15 m) tall if they have enough support. Dwarf hydrangeas varieties are typically 2 or 3 feet (0.6 – 1 m) tall.
What is a Nikko Blue Hydrangea?
The Nikko Blue hydrangea is one of the most popular mophead hydrangea shrubs. The flowering bush has deep blue florets contrasting with large green, ovate leaves. The ‘Nikko Blue’ blooms profusely from early summer until the fall. Flowers are blue in acidic soils and develop pink hues in alkaline soils.
What is the name of the shrub with the most flowers?
Bigleaf hydrangeas are the most popular flowering shrub in gardens. The common hydrangea names—bigleaf and mophead—refer to the leaf size and flower shape. The showy hydrangea flowers are large, rounded flower clusters. The large, bold glossy, ovate leaves can be 4” to 6” (10 – 15 cm) across.
How long do big leaf hydrangeas bloom?
Bigleaf hydrangea cultivars have two types of flowers: mophead flowers and lacecap flowers. The sizeable spherical mophead flowers bloom for three to six months and can turn color in the fall. Lacecap hydrangea flowers are flattened flower clusters. The flower heads consist of fertile florets in the center with showy petal flowers around them.
What color are climbing hydrangea leaves?
The dull grayish-green summer foliage turns a spectacular red or orange in the fall. Climbing hydrangea leaves are aromatic leaves that are a rounded to ovate shape with toothed edges. From the different hydrangeas varieties, climbing hydrangea leaves are the smallest, measuring between 2” and 4” (5 – 10 cm) long.
How many types of hydrangeas are there?
Most people do not realize that there are five main types of hydrangeas. While most people think of these blue, purple, and pink flowers, the majority of hydrangea blooms are actually white.
What is the most common name for a hydrangea?
Hydrangea macrophylla, colloquially referred to as bigleaf hydrangeas are the most common. Other names you might have heard include Garden hydrangea, florists hydrangea, and French hydrangea, because chances are the flowers you find at a florist shop or grocery store are bigleaf hydrangeas. Within this category, there are three types.
How tall can a panicle hydrangea grow?
The PeeGee or ‘Grandiflora’ is the most popular of panicle hydrangeas because they are most easily pruned into trees and can reach up to 25 feet in height.
What is the difference between a lacecap hydrangea and a mophead hydrangea?
Lacecap hydrangeas. Lacecap hydrangeas are fairly identical to mophead varieties with a distinct difference in terms of the flowers. These varieties have tiny flower buds in the centre and larger flowers that encircle that central flower head. The showy flowers around the perimeter are sterile and only designed to attract pollinators ...
How tall do hydrangeas get?
These are typically used as a hedge plant because they can reach up to six feet tall. Hydrangea arborescens can tolerate hotter climates with blooms appearing between June and September. These flowers will start off as green and turn to white as they mature. They are fairly low maintenance plants that require partial shade and full sun on the same day. Most people refer to the Annabelle hydrangea when describing smooth hydrangeas because it is the quintessential smooth hydrangea with its white, round flower heads that take on the appearance of large snowballs and can reach up to 12 inches in diameter.
What is the difference between a panicle and an oakleaf hydrangea?
The Oakleaf hydrangea produces white, cone-shaped flowers that are very similar to the panicle flowers but the key difference is that you can find them in single blossoms or double blossoms. They can withstand a large range of climate conditions.
What is the name of the hydrangea that turns leaves in the fall?
Oakleaf Hydrangea. The oak leaf hydrangea has foliage similar to oak trees. Known under its scientific name of Hydrangea quercifolia, the oak leaf leaves will turn color in the fall and they are the only hydrangea to do so.
What are the colors of hydrangeas?
Hydrangea macrophylla, Hydrangea paniculata, Hydrangea quercifolia, Hydrangea serrata, Mophead Hydrangeas, Lacecap Hydrangeas, Mountain Hydrangeas, Oakleaf Hydrangeas 1 Colors also beguile with deep blues, vibrant pinks, pristine whites, lavender, and rose. Some Hydrangea varieties have the added attraction of changing color, depending on the soil pH. Strongly acidic soils allow these species to produce blue flowers; slightly acidic soils will produce pink flowers. To change the color of your Hydrangea, add aluminum sulfate to the soil to make the flowers bluer or add lime to the soil to make them pinker. 2 Many Hydrangeas are fragrant and others feature a wonderful foliage adding glorious fall color to the landscape. 3 Native to Asia and the US, there are about 70–75 species of hydrangeas but only 6 species are commonly grown in our gardens.
How many species of hydrangeas are there in the US?
Many Hydrangeas are fragrant and others feature a wonderful foliage adding glorious fall color to the landscape. Native to Asia and the US, there are about 70–75 species of hydrangeas but only 6 species are commonly grown in our gardens.
When do hydrangeas bloom?
Amazingly versatile, Hydrangeas bloom throughout summer and into fall, providing long-lasting color when many shrubs are already fading.
How to make hydrangeas pink?
To change the color of your Hydrangea, add aluminum sulfate to the soil to make the flowers bluer or add lime to the soil to make them pinker.
How tall does a smooth hydrangea get?
It grows as a rounded shrub and gets to 5 feet (1.5 m.) high and wide, with huge white flower clusters. The top cultivar is ‘Annabelle,’ with flower heads up to 12 inches (30 cm.) across.
What is a hydrangea blossom?
The blossom is a flat disk, with a round “cap” of smaller flowers in the center surrounded by a fringe of larger, showier flowers. But that is just the beginning. Other popular types of hydrangeas include two types that are native to this country: the easy-to-grow smooth hydrangea and stunning oakleaf hydrangea.
What is a bigleaf hydrangea?
Many people equate hydrangeas with bigleaf hydrangeas ( Hydrangea macrophyllia ), those stunning shrubs with rounded inflorescences big as a grapefruit. But there are actually a wide variety of hydrangea plant types that might interest you.
How tall does an oak leaf hydrangea grow?
Its lobed leaves look like extremely large and attractive oak leaves, and the plant grows to 8 feet (2 m.) tall. The white flowers are large and abundant, white when they first open into conical flower heads but maturing to a pinky mauve.
What is the name of the hydrangea that is a panicle?
We can’t write about hydrangea varieties without mentioning panicle hydrangea, sometimes called the Pee Gee hyd rangea or tree hydrangea.
How high can a climbing hydrangea get?
Once established, it can get to 60 feet (18 m.) high, clinging to support with root-like tendrils. Its flowers are romantic lace-cap varieties.
Do hydrangeas have pests?
If you have a particular hydrangea “look” in mind, don’t think it’s your only choice. These versatile shrubs are found in every size and shape imaginable. All hydrangeas share some of their most popular characteristics, like ornamental flowers and ample foliage. All are easy maintenance and virtually pest free.
Old wood vs. new wood
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Hydrangea identification chart
As a quick summary, this decision tree will help you identify what type of Hydrangea you have.