Maybe I should be embarrassed but I had never heard of this cultivar. However, the gentleman at the perennial farm said it was his favorite so off with one I go. I know some of you have one. What are they like? Are you happy with it? How big does it get? I always wanted a white to pink hydrangea and I hope this is the one.....
H. paniculta "Phantom"
Not sure you will like it if you want it to go pink. I bought one last year from Wilkerson Mill via mail order (even though it is about 25 miles from me). I put this in full sun as a small plant and it bloomed with very large conical blooms in its first year so I am very pleased with this. It probably doubled in size. I think you would be pleased with it despite the pink coloring being a more murky brown.
Here are a couple of pictures of it from last summer.
Pics 1 and 2: This is what it faded to - kind of ugly brown?
Pics 3, 4, and 5: This is what excited me about it.
One more photo for a full view of it.
I had a Sun Goddess Mac that turned that sandy color too. I also noticed some of the Annabelle cousins start to turn that color at a nursery that I was visiting often. I had just gone to see "the cousins" only, not buy them. Invincibelle was ok but I already had Annebelle so my dollars did not want to flow into a copy. I also saw Bella Anna but did not like the shade of pink of its blooms.
I considered one of those sandy blooms hydrangeas besides a white blooming late blooming paniculata like Tardiva but the idea never got off the ground. The sandy color of these blooms would have looked good with the late white Tardiva blooms but I was not sure I would be able to time all of these plants to bloom & turn the desired colors at the proper time.
You are right. It's not as pink as I would like but the white blooms are huge! I can't say I'm disappointed with those at all. Is there any cultivar that fades to real pink? I do like that "ashes of roses" color however, so I'm happy. I could make space if I found just the right one....
I'll try to remember to measure the blooms on Quick Fire. Supposedly, it's the first hydrangea to bloom. I do like the color it becomes - a vivid pink.
The heads are not as large as Tardiva (last photo) but Tardiva isn't as pink, nor was it meant to be pink!
Pinky Winky and Strawberry Vanilla supposedly turn pink as they age but so far I'm not all that impressed. Maybe in a colder climate than Atlanta they would truly be pink.
Here is Pinky Winky showing a tad of pink last year. The last two pictures are of Strawberry Vanilla with a hint of pink - very disappointing but maybe it gets better each year. I think if you want pink get a mophead/lacecap for best results.
I heard from someone in Kansas who complained not getting the magenta pink of VS last year. Her plant at the time was on year 2, I think. How old is the VS in picture above? Apparently VS needs weather like in France (where it is from) to produce the nice pink in the pictures and, here in the states, we wet cold autumn weather that instead makes the shrub go dormant before the show begins. Sigh...
Mine were two years old last year and get sun from morning until about 1 PM. Pinky Winky was 3 last year, gets sun until 2 or 3 and the first year it bloomed. Some hydrangea pictures are hard to fathom on line and in catalogs such as Incrediball and Invincible Spirit - two more disappointments so far.
I know how you feel. I checked out Invincibelle Spirit and Bella Anna at a local nursery that ordered both and had them both in stock at the same time. I did not buy them because the shade of pink on both did not say 'buy me'. I killed one Incrediball when I stored it in a shaded location during the summer, forgot it was there and it dried out! Sigh.... I have an Annabelle so it was looking fwd to having Incrediball. Oops, ohhh well.
I cut mine (Incrediball and Invincible Spirit) close to the ground a couple of weeks ago hoping that it might encourage them to put out bigger stems and bigger blooms - time will tell. I think this is coming up to the 4th year (maybe 3rd for both) with disappointing size on the blooms. GRRR!
My first Annabelle died on me the first winter but it was a small plant to begin with so when I saw big 3 or 5 gallon ones the following year I bought two - they've done very well. I think this will be their 3rd year now.
This winter was rough on most of my macrophyllas except for the biggest ones. I thought single digit weather was gone for good since we haven't had that in 21 years.