Hydrangeas steal the show
Cheerleaders of the garden require just the right mix of sunlight and shade
HYDRANGEAS are a garden’s cheerleaders, boosting spirits with their big pom-pom blooms — when you can find just the right spot where they get both sun and shade. Two groups of big-leaf hydrangeas vie for attention: mopheads and lacecaps. Mopheads sport cheerful, globe-shaped flowers, while lacecaps have a more delicate, flatter blossom with lacey florets.
Most hydrangeas grow best in moist, welldrained, organic soil with good morning sun and some afternoon shade.
I’ve had luck with ‘Little Lime,’ a prolific Proven Winners variety laden with pale green blooms. ‘Little Lime’ likes the sun, but still prefers some shade in the afternoon. It has a higher drought tolerance than most hydrangeas; it needs to be watered about twice a week. The compact shrub’s blooms are smaller than its popular sibling, ‘Limelight,’ but just as profuse.
Since the pH of the soil influences the color of many varieties of big-leaf hydrangeas, you can change the color of your blooms.
Houston gardener Maureen Taylor has hydrangeas in her garden. She sent in a photo of ‘Annabelle,’ a white mophead that turns to pink. She also grows a variegated lacecap variety. Both like partial shade; full sun can burn hydrangea leaves.
“We lost a tree nearby, so I had to resort to making a shade structure over these plants,” Taylor said.
Reblooming hydrangeas in the ‘Endless Summer’ collection are popular at Houston garden centers; they include the original ‘Endless Summer’ and ‘BloomStruck’ mopheads, as well as the ‘Twist-n-Shout’ and ‘Let’s Dance Starlight’ lacecaps.
The compact ‘Let’s Dance’ has performed well in my garden, with showy lavender flowers and dark green foliage. ‘Twist-n-Shout’ with its blue and purple florets is a stunner.
Rachael Miller sent in a photo of her ‘Waterfall’ hydrangea, which is still blooming even in this heat, she says. This lacecap variety likes shade and has unusual white blooms that cascade over its dark tapered leaves.
Another great choice for the Houston garden is the oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia). Its lacy, white flowers are on long cone-shaped panicles. This tall, low-maintenance hydrangea has lobed leaves that create texture in a woodsy garden.
While both pink and blue hydrangeas are show stoppers, some gardeners want what they don’t have. Since the pH of the soil influences the color of many varieties of big-leaf hydrangeas, you can change the color of your blooms.
For blue flowers, you would want acidic soil; adding soil sulfur or aluminum sulfate will turn the soil acidic. (My mother always used coffee grounds.)
Alkaline soil makes the flowers pink; add dolomitic lime from your garden center if you want rosier blooms.