While waiting patiently for the first Hydrangea bloom of 2008 I thought I would post some photos of a few of my Hydrangeas in 2007 and will post photo’s of different varieties as this Hydrangea season progresses. Kt
Hydrangea serrata 'Shirofugi' A small gem 18"-24"H x 30"-36"W
This message was edited May 31, 2008 2:00 PM
Beautiful white flowers of H. serrata 'Shirofugi' age to pink
H. ‘Niedersachen’ it has been consistently hardy and again the range in color from the white eye to the deep blue purple blossoms make this an exceptional Hydrangea would be fabulous companioned with ‘Sister Teresa’
Altona’ (zone6-9) ‘Altona’ with its saw toothed petals is known as a Hydrangea that dries well.
My three year old Dirr introduction ‘Dooley’ reported to be a good winter hardy choice for New England I have found to be a smaller but nearly identical version of ‘Nikko’
'Nikko' nearly identical to 'Dooley'.
General discussion/classification of Hydrangeas most often seems limited to plant size and blossom color. I took a few photos this am and noted blossom petal size and shape and number of petals per blossom play an equally important role in the plants over all appearance.
Saw toothed petal on ‘Altona’
Note how nicely the petals completely encircle each blossom on ‘Tokyo Delight’ an added plus to this shrub is in the fall the white petals turn a nice pink/red for additional color in the garden.
Lilacina the petals are not as tightly wrapped as above giving a lighter/airier over all appearance.
Notable about ‘Claude’ is the petal shape is more elongated with smooth edging larger petal size and occasional double rows of petals
2007 was the third year I had been growing fifteen Endless Summer shrubs some under different growing conditions but all purchased on the same date from the same nusery in the same blue pot. A hedge of ES in full sun, irrigation, soil with a 5.0 ph. I suspect my climate (cool temperatures with moist air –fog) during bloom time allows for its success in full sun.
The hedge of Endless Summer have blooms that are 12” wide.
Note the color is not as bright blue on these ES a few feet from the hedge which have a few hours of shade. These shaded blossoms are also not nearly as large as 12" but are plentiful.
One ES that I have planted in my little micro climate against a foundation facing south full sun and irrigation (crazy I know) and this ES is half the size with very faded pastel blossoms.
Clematis Princess Diana is lost climbing through the over powering blooms of Endless Summer.
I love 'Pia' as well but it is not as small as you might be thinking 4'x4'. I was fooled by its purported dwarf size and last year had to move them all back off of the brick path. The blooms you see now are all on old growth the new growth is just beginning to reach the top of the shrubs and will put on another 6-12+ inches. Ideally they are probably best planted so the center of the shrub is 3' off of the brick walk. ‘Mini Penny’ seems to be a great selection for a smaller H. macrophylia but mine has yet to mature so I will hold off further comment for a few years.
Wonderful collection and a wonderful source of information. Do you provide any winter protection to Dooley or any of the serrata's? I have my first 'Blue Deckle' (planted 2007) . New growth this spring is very good. In spite of winter protection it died back to the ground. However it was in a 4" pot when planted. It didn't have far to go to die back to the ground!
H. paniculata ‘Limelight’ is not only a great color ......
but 'Limelight' makes a great textural addition to any garden
Schizophragma hydrangeoides 'Moonlight' distinctive silver colored leaf. This vine is a real designers plant I suspect we are going to see some great plant combinations in the near future.
Schrizophragma hydrangeoides 'Roseum' great rosy edge to the leaf
Hydrangea anomala petiolaris 'Firefly' which looks identical to ‘Miranda’ but it appears to be a stronger grower.
Hydrangea anomala petiolaris 'Miranda’
Schizophragma ‘Platts Dwarf’ extraordinarily fast grower with a much smaller leaf makes for a great textural addition to the garden.
Older Hydrangea anomala petiolaris that I am training to a standard I saw this done in the Netherlands and thought it would be good practice for this pruning phobic.
Hydrangea anomala petiolaris
This beauty is a florist hydrangea often sold in the super markets around Easter, the rule of thumb in my neck of the woods is not to bother planting it outdoors as they are not winter hearty varieties…I lucked out with this one and frankly think it is a real beauty.
Wow! Wonderful hydrangeas, wonderful garden. That petiolaris growing up the tree is unbelieveable. The serratas are very pretty, the more I see them the more I like them. I'm outta luck on those since I don't want to mess with winter protection. I have my eye on that Limelight, it's an eyecatcher. Do you work on the PH to get the blue blooms on the ES? Thanks for sharing your pictures.
snapple,
Thanks, no I don't provide any winter protection to any hydrangea. Blue Deckle is a real beauty you might find this guy will be more hardy as it matures.
medinac,
Thanks, I have highly acidic soil and do not add any emendments.
kt
I love your hydrangea collection and am impressed with the anomalas. Mine will not bloom after 10 yrs. How many acres are your hydrangeas on?
How many years did it take you to train the H. anomala petiolaris into a standard?
rosalie
truongr,
Thanks, I am sure many people have told you they are slow to bloom perhaps you will be surprised next year. I believe I have such great sucess with H. anomala petiolaris no thanks to any gardening skill of mine, but because I have extremely acidic soil. My H anomala petiolaris was originally growing up the side of my house and after five years it was taking over the propaine tank and windows so I ripped it down and transplanted it to a tree, after a few years on the tree I ripped it down cut back all of the tall growth and decided the base/trunk was strong enough to play around with as a standard. As this plant wants to grow to 40' I doubt I will be doing this for very long but I thought it would be a fun project for the short term. kt
truongr--how have you been pruning your anomala? Snapple45 posted some great info on how they grow and bloom in this thread http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/849852/ (scroll down towards the bottom, it's the last few posts in the thread that are about them)
Runktrun, I started my MOnday in a bad mood. Your pictures lifted my spirits in a way I can't write over the internet! Absolutely beautiful! Thanks so much for sharing.
The petiolaris don't seem to mind a soil pH of 6.5, which is where my soil stays unamended. This one is 5 yrs old. It first bloomed at 3. It would have climbed much higher by now but the squirrels constantly rip off the terminal buds when they climb up and down the tree trying to get into the bird feeders. Aaaaarg!
I took out a petiolaris a few years back that I grew as a shrub in one of the gardens (now a mostly perennial/conifer garden). It grew to such a size as to threaten to take over the entire plot. I got tired of the constant pruning battle. It's much easier to maintain on the oak. Just nip the lower ground hugging laterals back.
Now, if I can just encourage the serrata 'Blue Deckle' to show the same contentment with its growing
conditions!
BTW, the petiolaris faces due west and gets the benefit of the mid-to late afternoon sun.
This message was edited Jun 2, 2008 4:07 PM
Oh man, i love that climbing hydrangea!
Dear ecrane3,
No I have never prune my anomala. Perhaps that is my problem. It faces East in between two buildings, so it gets so morning sun and some afternoon sun but not all day sun. I'll go to the suggested thread.
Thanks.
Rosalie
PS : My H serrata shirotae has started blooming. So delicate. Will send pics.
