I love all types of hydrangeas, including mophead, peegee, arborescens and oak leaf. My two favorites however are the peegees and arborescens. I like them because they bloom on new wood, so its easier to control their size. With most mophead and oakleaf hydrangeas, they only bloom on two year old stems. Thus, you have to be careful when and how much you prune them, lest you prune the baby flower buds right off. Therefore, they generally get to be quite large in size. I have a small yard and while I love mopheads, I just don't have the space.
The arborescens and peegees (or paniculatas, named for their panicle shaped flowers) can be cut almost to the ground each spring, and will still flower and look gorgeous in the summer. With them I get the perfect combination of smaller size and gorgeous flowers. I have two of each of these types. In the arborescens category, I have a beautiful white flowered plant called 'Annabelle'. The heads get to be about a foot in diameter and are extremely prolific. Its like a living (and rather large) bouquet. The other is actually another type of annabelle with pink flowers called 'Invincibelle Spirit'. I wrote a post last year about this plant that was rather harsh. For the record, I have since decided that while the flower heads are slightly smaller than the white version, the plant itself is rather nice.
The one thing I have learned about hydrangea arborescens is that it is actually better to leave about three feet of stem when you cut them back in the spring (instead of cutting them to the ground). The reason is that their flower heads are so large, and the new stems so spindly, that they tend to flop over into the dirt unless they're staked. If however, you leave the stems to grow fatter and woodier each year, they become more able to support the flower heads and thus don't need to be staked. I really don't like staking!
In the peegee category I have 'Limelight' and 'Vanilla Strawberry' (makes me hungry for dessert every time I see that name). They both have flower heads that are about 8" long and about 6" wide, emerge green and proceed to turn white and then pink. The 'Vanilla Strawberry' (yum) is supposed to turn a darker shade of pink than the 'Limelight', but I have only grown the former for one season, so that claim remains to be seen. These both also have woody enough stems that they do not need to be staked.
The nice thing about all of the hydrangeas that I have, is that in the winter, the leaves fall off and the flower heads remain. I love seeing those delicate, brown heads clinging so tenaciously to the tops of their stems, through rain, wind and snow storms. Did I mention that they also get nice fall color and never get diseases? What is not to like about these fantastic shrubs? In case it was hard to tell, I highly recommend them!
Top to bottom: 'Annabelle', 'Invincibelle Spirit', 'Limelight', 'Strawberry Vanilla' and my one lone oakleaf hydrangea
The arborescens and peegees (or paniculatas, named for their panicle shaped flowers) can be cut almost to the ground each spring, and will still flower and look gorgeous in the summer. With them I get the perfect combination of smaller size and gorgeous flowers. I have two of each of these types. In the arborescens category, I have a beautiful white flowered plant called 'Annabelle'. The heads get to be about a foot in diameter and are extremely prolific. Its like a living (and rather large) bouquet. The other is actually another type of annabelle with pink flowers called 'Invincibelle Spirit'. I wrote a post last year about this plant that was rather harsh. For the record, I have since decided that while the flower heads are slightly smaller than the white version, the plant itself is rather nice.
The one thing I have learned about hydrangea arborescens is that it is actually better to leave about three feet of stem when you cut them back in the spring (instead of cutting them to the ground). The reason is that their flower heads are so large, and the new stems so spindly, that they tend to flop over into the dirt unless they're staked. If however, you leave the stems to grow fatter and woodier each year, they become more able to support the flower heads and thus don't need to be staked. I really don't like staking!
In the peegee category I have 'Limelight' and 'Vanilla Strawberry' (makes me hungry for dessert every time I see that name). They both have flower heads that are about 8" long and about 6" wide, emerge green and proceed to turn white and then pink. The 'Vanilla Strawberry' (yum) is supposed to turn a darker shade of pink than the 'Limelight', but I have only grown the former for one season, so that claim remains to be seen. These both also have woody enough stems that they do not need to be staked.
The nice thing about all of the hydrangeas that I have, is that in the winter, the leaves fall off and the flower heads remain. I love seeing those delicate, brown heads clinging so tenaciously to the tops of their stems, through rain, wind and snow storms. Did I mention that they also get nice fall color and never get diseases? What is not to like about these fantastic shrubs? In case it was hard to tell, I highly recommend them!
Top to bottom: 'Annabelle', 'Invincibelle Spirit', 'Limelight', 'Strawberry Vanilla' and my one lone oakleaf hydrangea
Comments
Post a Comment