Hydrangeas

Billowy bowling ball sized blooms hang their heads in the late day sun. I’ll have to wait until morning to take a few hydrangea cuttings. One stem can fill an entire vase! The hydrangeas are at their peak and you can’t help the exclamations of “Oooooo’s & Ahhhh’s” as you gaze upon these gorgeous flowering bushes. If you are searching for moderately fast growing bushes with lush blooms then hydrangeas are a perfect choice. Not sure where to start? Let’s look at 8 Must Have Hydrangeas you’ll love!

One of the most common hydrangea you’ll find in garden centers is the Endless Summer hydrangea which you can see here pictured above and below. What is nice about Endless Summer is that unlike other varieties, this plant will give a large output of blooms in the late spring or early summer depending on where you live and then bloom steadily throughout the summer.

The best way to find out which hydrangeas you’d love to purchase is to take a trip to a botanical garden. I visited Norfolk Botanical Gardens last week and wrote down a few types of hydrangeas that were especially stunning.

Most garden center variety hydrangeas are from Asia but the US does have native hydrangeas also. The native varieties are Oakleaf and Smooth.   Most people don’t even realize that Oakleaf hydrangeas are actual hydrangeas. They are  native  to the southeast and produce mophead-like blooms but are in a conical shape instead.

The leaves of the Oakleaf Hydrangea also turn deep purple-bronze in the fall which makes a stunning addition to your garden.

The Smooth Hydrangea is the other type of native North American species and can be in the mop head or lace cap from as seen in the picture below. The most common varieties you’ll come across are "’Annabelle’ and ‘Grandiflora’.

There are two most common shapes of hydrangeas: mop heads and lacecaps. Mophead hydrangeas produce large ball shaped blooms. This gorgeous bloom is almost as large as my son’s head!

Lacecap hydrangeas produce a bloom with a ring of blossoms around a center “cap” of tiny blossoms. Below is the beautiful ‘Nachtigal’ Bigleaf Hydrangea.

This ‘Princess Lace’ hydrangea was my favorite. Clusters of tiny periwinkle blue blossoms are surrounded by a ring of winter white blossoms.

Gazing upon the whole bush was breathtaking. I’m adding it to my must have list!

Another lacecap that was equally as stunning, was the ‘Midnight Duchess’. Unlike some other hydrangeas that have a varied colors on one bush, this variety was filled with only light pink blossoms. The backsides of the petals are white and the inside are baby girl pink.

A showy bush with variegated leaves and lavender blossoms is ‘Lemon Wave’.

A lovely deep purple variety which is a real showstopper is the ‘Fasan’ hydrangea.

You will love the addition of few hydrangeas to your garden. Always check which variety does best in your growing zone.

Which one is your favorite?

For more gardening ideas, check out the Gardening Tab up at the top of the page.

Kim

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