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Hydrangeas
for
Wyobraska Landscapes
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If
you are a regular reader of gardening magazines,
you’ve undoubtedly read numerous articles in recent
years about hydrangeas, and perhaps wondered if such
a lush looking shrub could possibly grow in the
bright sunlight and arid climate of western Nebraska
and eastern Wyoming. The answer is in, and it is a
resounding “yes”—with a few restrictions of course,
this still is Wyobraska.
Hydrangeas typically are large leaved shrubs with
large, showy, mostly white flowers from mid-summer
to fall. Do an internet search and you are likely
to read that hydrangeas will also bloom in shades of
blue and pink, but in the high pH soils of
Wyobraska, white with a hint of pink is likely the
flower color that you will get. But the flowers are
large and showy enough to be well worth including at
least one hydrangea in your landscape. Common
wisdom is that they grow best in shade, but
experience would seem to indicate that a morning sun
exposure is actually the best location. My
observation is that most perform best with a fair
amount of sunlight. Some die back to the ground
each winter like most perennials, and others perform
like shrubs—retaining some branching structure from
year to year. If you are planning to try a
hydrangea in your landscape, it is important to know
the difference, and prune accordingly.
There are actually four different species of
hydrangea that are widely sold in the nursery trade
–hydrangea arborescens, hydrangea paniculata,
hydrangea macrophylla, and hydrangea quercifolia.
Experience over the last 3 to 5 years would seem to
indicate that three of the four hydrangea species
will perform well in most Wyobraska landscapes and
gardens. |
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Mulch
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New
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An August Nighttime Sky
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The three hydrangea species that I am comfortable
recommending based on actual Wyobraska landscape
experience are hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ is
the best known cultivar of this species, hydrangea
paniculata, and hydrangea quercifolia.
‘Annabelle’ hydrangea has been performing well in
Wyobraska landscapes for almost 10 years. It is
perhaps the smallest hydrangea, reaching a height
and spread of 4 feet under ideal conditions, but
more commonly seems to stay around 3 feet. It has
large round blooms from mid-summer through fall, and
most years the stems and flower heads retain good
winter interest. This is one hydrangea that does
need to be cut back to the ground each spring, but
grows back to full-size by late June or early July.
Annabelle may prefer more shade than other
hydrangeas, but does seem to be at its best with 2
to 4 hours of morning sun. There are other
hydrangea arborescens cultivars on the market, but
none better than Annabelle.
I
had eastern Nebraska landscapers suggest to me years
ago that I should try both hydrangea quercifolia,
commonly known as oak leaf hydrangea, and hydrangea
paniculata ‘Tardiva’. At the time I thought they
didn’t know how inhospitable a Wyobraska landscape
would be to these lush looking plants. But when a
friend in North Platte reported success on some
pretty exposed sites with these two plants, I
thought it was probably time to admit that I might
not know everything yet. Sure enough, these two
plants seem to adapt to most Wyobraska landscape
sites. Oakleaf hydrangea is a lower, spreading
shrub with large oak-shaped leaves and huge
spear-shaped flowers that rise above the foliage.
To say that it is a showy plant is an
understatement. It may be the most sun-loving of
all of the hydrangeas in spite of its large
leaves. It also appears to be quite soil
adaptable, but I do recommend doing the standard
soil amendment of compost and sulfur when planting
this or any hydrangea.
Likewise, hydrangea paniculata also appears to be
performing well in Wyobraska. The cultivar
‘Tardiva’ is the most traditionally shrub-like of
any of the hydrangeas, and will get 8 feet tall and
wide under good conditions. It can be pruned like
most shrubs, and many sources report better blooming
with some regular pruning. It also has white
spear-shaped blooms that are very showy from
mid-summer through frost. It seems to prefer at
least half-day sun. There are several smaller
versions of the hydrangea paniculata species. One
you may want to try is ‘Pinkie Winkie’. You may
actually get light pink blooms on this shrub. This
plant will have a size and care requirements similar
to ‘Annabelle’ hydrangea, which is to say, it may
need to be cut back each spring.
As
luck would have it, the one species that has not
performed well, hydrangea macrophylla, is probably
the most widely promoted in recent years in
gardening magazines under the cultivar names of
Endless Summer Hydrangea and Blushing Bride
Hydrangea. With names like those, what avid
gardener could resist giving them a try, but shrubs
need more than a catchy name to perform well in
Wyobraska landscapes.
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