Its human nature to want what we cant have gardeners are especially bad about this. But if we try real hard, we might just find we get what we need. While I dont think the Rolling Stones had hydrangeas in mind when they sang those lyrics, I do.
Our landscape, although ringed by pines and hardwoods, is drenched in sunshine. Even after nine years of maneuvering plants around our property, swaths of shade are scarce. I know what youre thinking : just wait, youll soon have too much shade.
When we moved, I brought along my collection of shade loving, big leaf hydrangeas, aka, mophead hydrangeas. It didnt take long to realize I needed to re-home that collection: the little bit of existing shade, at the edge of our woods, was too dry for those treasured plants.
CLICK FOR MORE PHOTOS
I tried to create a special bed for a few select cultivars and kept vigil over their watering needs but I soon found I was unwilling to commit to that sort of relationship.
Thats when I found what I needed: a hydrangea that thrived in sun.
Panicle hydrangea, Hydrangea paniculata, is a no-brainer shrub choice for sunny spots in a shrub border, perennial bed or foundation planting I have them in all three situations. Happy in hours of sunshine, requiring an average amount of water and remarkably drought-tolerant once established, this hydrangea offers months of floral bling.
Unlike their mophead cousins who have rounded blooms, the blooms of panicle hydrangeas are arranged in a cone shape, technically called a panicle. Like their mophead cousins, blooms of panicle hydrangeas can look like lace or mops. Their blooms are a mix of showy, sterile sepals (which look like petals) and round, BB-sized fertile structures which morph into tiny presentations of male and female flower parts. Bloom size ranges from 6 to 12 inches, depending on the cultivar.
Panicle hydrangeas usually grow in a multi-trunked arrangement ranging in height from 6-15 feet. They are easily maintained size-wise by spring pruning, preferably done before leaves emerge. Unlike mophead hydrangeas, panicle hydrangeas can be pruned with impunity: they bloom on new wood so theres no fear of removing this seasons flower power. Foliage is a simple oblong arrangement in medium green that is impervious to insects or disease.
Once I discovered the virtues of panicle hydrangeas, I investigated (code word for purchased and planted) as many different cultivars as possible: eight at last count. By far my favorite is Chantilly Lace, which anchors one arc of my circle garden. Other than removing occasional dead branches, she remains un-pruned and after seven years is 6 foot-by-8 foot.
By August, she is covered with 8-to-10-inch long cones of flowers held upright on her sturdy stems; their pristine whiteness lasts well into September. Its a magnificent sight, especially considering I do little to encourage this performance: a dollop of organic fertilizer in spring, minor attention to watering if rain is sparse, a quick snip of dried flowers when winter comes to an end.
Limelight, second on my list of favorites, puts her corner of the garden in the limelight by July 4th. Her fist-size blooms, composed mostly of showy sepals, open in a soft lime green color but owing to our heat, turn creamy white in a week or so. Yet these blooms look fresh for six weeks before starting to fade.
At opposite ends of the panicle hydrangea blooming sequence are my other favorites: Quick Fire and Tardiva. Quick Fire has been in bloom since the end of May and is already blushing pink on some of her sepals. Tardiva ends the hydrangea season by opening fresh blooms in mid-August.
Newcomer to the panicle hydrangea market, Pinkie Wink, has yet to appear in my garden; her claim to fame is blooms that open white then quickly change to dark pink, creating a two-toned color effect on each blossom.
Im certain there are other hydrangeas I need: I plan to try real hard to find them.
Master gardener Sharon Thompson has been gardening since moving to the Midlands in 1978.
Similar Posts:
- Some Window Curtain Arrangement Ideas
- Phlox Flower – Brightest Color Most Bloom
- Growing Citrus Indoors
- You Are Wrong Mine Blooms
- Time to start work on that fall garden
