Beautiful varieties for the home and garden
In her new book, GN’s Naomi Slade extols the virtues of one of the country’s most-loved but often maligned plants – the ever-vibrant hydrangea
Aflower of a thousand facets, the hydrangea never ceases to surprise and astonish. And while this plant may not have always been universally loved, it cares not one iota. The hydrangea is here to stay…
Fashion is a capricious thing and hydrangeas, more than many plants, have had their low points as well as their triumphs. Discovered but not applauded, passed over in the annals of botanical significance, given away as an also-ran by those who might have cherished them. Yet hydrangeas have slowly surged, gradually building a reputation and a following; not catapulted to glory as a manufactured pop phenomenon, but gaining recognition the old way, through hard graft and reliability.
Throughout their history, hydrangeas have tended to divide people. Some think they’re marvellous in almost every way; others consider them an abomination. When I first met hydrangeas, they were bulky, dated landscape shrubs. They grew in a row under the window in my grandmother’s coastal garden, the flowers vast lumpen mops of dull pink and mauve that my grandad called ‘Queen Mother’s Hats’. Hydrangeas were simply not to my taste. Yet it’s unfair to judge an entire genus on a couple of neglected specimens viewed with an
uncompromisingly critical pre-teen eye. Reflection and experience, an appreciation of new developments and the simple turning of the world has made them not just freshly relevant, but ultimately desirable. They’re now courted, coveted and cooed over, wherever they can be grown or shipped to. While the bulky old faithfuls still exist, they’re a renewed force in a landscape or woodland garden design. And they’re now joined by newer, more compact plants; plants that are ideal for containers. Breeders have developed fresh lacecaps, airy as a bridal veil, and elegant, sophisticated panicles in cream and green. They offer the exquisite excitement of a flower that ages not just gracefully, but magnificently, with antique shades of verdigris,
teal and damson, before finally fading to a spare but deliciously delicate skeleton in the garden.The versatility of hydrangeas must, in part, have contributed to their renaissance. They’re perfect as a container specimen and houseplant and are suited to floristry of all kinds. In the garden, they’re design magic.
In my book I explore this flower of mystery and rejoice in its evocative, absorbing, chameleon bloom. The hydrangea renaissance is now indisputable. Quietly, these flowers have crept into our interiors, gardens and hearts. As proof of our passion, thousands of hydrangea varieties now exist, while new ones are bred each year. Some will stand the test of time and others will prove ephemeral, but the genus hydrangea will persist alongside us. Blissfully indifferent to the vagaries of fashion, hydrangeas have taken centre stage.