Bigleaf Hydrangea, Lacecap 'Mariesii Variegata'

I've found this Hydrangea to be very easy to propagate. I pack the potting soil down tight in a pot, make a hole with a bamboo s...Read Moretick, sprinkle rooting hormone powder in the hole and then insert the cutting, packing the soil tight around the stem. It seems to help to leave the pot with the cutting in a shallow tray of water (about 1/2 inch deep) for the first week or two of propagation, then remove from the water tray once the stems seem stabilized.

Jeremy

I have 2 of these gorgeous plants. One in full sun severely curbs growth by mid-summer; it is in a well-augmented bed, great drainage. It...Read More is maybe 2 feet tall. The other, planted at the same time in a narrow bed, poorly augmented, questionable drainage, not as much direct sun, has gone crazy! If not for pruning, it would exceed 5 feet. It is 4 feet wide and gets pruned frequently. Unlike other reports here, when this bush blooms, you can hardly see the foliage. The blooms are full, lush, and astonishingly colored. Edges of the blooms have begun to open. When it is in full bloom, I'll post a photo. One negative: they tend to get a fungus, spotting the leaves, causing loss of foliage (after blooms). Treatable with fungacide.

I got my plant from a neighbors garden by simple layering, take a healthy,soft wood branch near the bottom of the plant, disturb the soil...Read More under the branch, lay a brick on the branch, water well and cover w/ mulch, I used nearby pine straw. Keep watered for several months, after aprox. 3-4 months, a lovely new plant. These hydrangeas are really delicate looking and beautiful. It is tough as well, I had just gotten mine established when my DH cut it to the ground w/ his weedeater. I cried, for real. Within a week, it was sprouting again, now as good as new. I highly recommend for my area.

Propagation is by softwood cuttings under intermittent mist

From the source "Hydrangeas for American Gardens," by Michael A. Dirr (2004), Green leaves with white margins. Not particularly stabile ...Read Moreand apt to revert. Cold sensitive. Flowers pinkish white alkaline; blue in acid soil. Dirr says he has doubts about the validity of this variegated form being a sport of Mariesii. AKA 'Maculata'.