Hurrah for hydrangeas
Hydrangea paniculata ‘Pinky Winky’ has cone-shaped flowers. It’s a member of the little leaf group.
By Jocelyn Jacks Also called sevenbark because its
rough bark peels in seven layers, it was used medicinally by Aboriginal peoples to stop vomiting in children, to create poultices for aching muscles and burns, and it was chewed to relieve high blood pressure and stomach problems. It
is
Beautiful and hardy ‘Annabelle’ is a big-leaf mop head that is native to the southern parts of North America. Be careful when buying – it can revert to a flat top.
B
ig-leaf, smooth leaf, oak leaf, mop heads, lace caps; some like water, some like it dry, some like
shade, some like sun . . . what about the climbers? Such is the confusing world of hydrangeas. Here’s your chance to sort it out. There are over 75 species of hydran-
geas, but basically we plant the big four, plus the climbers. Deer have a big appetite for hydran-
geas. So do rabbits. So do slugs, spider mites, aphids, thrips and rose chafers. In spite of all this, they are well worth any trouble to grow.
A big-leaf mop head Hydrangea arborescens, or smooth leaf
hydrangea, is native to North America with its natural range extending from New York state south.
32 SUMMER 2013 In Canada, because it is so hardy, the
most popular variety is ‘Annabelle’, with its large, white, 10-inch, mop-head-type blossoms. Be sure to buy it when it is in bloom, because it can revert to its wild state and present you with a flat-topped, lace-cap-type blossom. This very hardy plant will reward you
for years with clumps that will expand as its roots travel underground by stolons to form shrubby colonies that can rise to 10 feet tall under favourable circumstances. To tell arborescens apart from Hydran-
gea macrophylla, the other mop head type with a big leaf, look at the leaf petioles. They are longer and the leaf looks floppier than the leaf on macro- phylla. The leaves are also smooth and not shiny.
a diuretic and was used to treat rheu- matism, backache and dropsy. Modern science has discovered that one of its constituents is an effective agent against autoimmune disease.
Hydrangea macrophylla The most sought-after hydrangea
traditionally is Hydrangea macrophylla, also called big-leafed hydrangea. It can come as a mop head, with the big snow- ball-type blossoms, or as a lace cap, the flat-topped flowers that have a centre of small, fertile florets, surrounded by a few showy sterile flowers. ‘Endless Summer’ is a popular culti-
var that blooms on both old and new wood, meaning it will grow and survive in cool zone 3 regions. It should be well mulched in summer to keep mois- ture consistent and fertilized with a low-nitrogen, high-phosphorus fertil- izer. That means a low first number and a high second number, for example 10-40-10. This is the hydrangea that we see
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