Which hydrangea would you plant in this area?

17 years ago

I have a new flower bed in my back yard and I need to decide which hydrangea to plant here! Please help me out!

The flower bed in question wraps around the corner of my deck. The eastern side of the bed has 3 Forever & Ever Red Sensation Hydrangeas. The northern side of the bed has perennials including Oriental lilies, lavender, coreopsis Early Sunrise and Shasta daisies. This photo may help you understand the location better:

I need a hydrangea right at the corner, between these plants. This corner of the bed has north eastern exposure, so it gets just a little bit of dappled sun in the morning, and a short period (a couple of hours maybe?) of direct afternoon sun.

Given the location (north eastern exposure) and the fact that it's between the Forever & Ever Red Sensation hydrangeas and these perennials, which hydrangea would you plant here? Also, not too far away from this bed is a Limelight hydrangea. I am looking for something with a good bloom duration and something that will bloom on new wood, as this location gets harsh wintry weather and so the plant may die back quite a bit. Currently, my choices are:

1. Pink Diamond - will it be too similar to the nearby Limelight? Maybe Quick Fire is better if I could even find it around here?

2. Bits of Lace - GORGEOUS light pink flowers, but will it tolerate all the sun here? And the deep pink of the Red Sensation - will it clash with this light pink?

3. White Dome - very lovely flowers! Again, will it tolerate all the sun here? How long does this bloom for?

4. None of the above! Your choice is...?

Please help me out! Thanks in advance!!!

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Comments (14)

angelainohio
17 years ago
I'd go with an Annabelle. She blooms on new wood and has beautiful white flowers.
ostrich
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks, Angela!

I like the big, white blooms of Annabelle too. However, I don't think that it will tolerate the afternoon sun there. Also, it gets a bit windy there and I am not too keen on the floppiness of the stems/blooms... I did wonder if I can do Annabelle there though!

Thanks again for your input.
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luvahydrangea
17 years ago
Personally, I would probably put an ornamental grass there. I know that is probably not the answer you're looking for, as you wanted a Hydrangea, but I think an ornamental grass would make a nice transition between the existing Hydrangeas and the perinneals. I would probably go with a Miscanthus Sinesis 'Morning Light.' But the possibilities are endless. I just love seeing hydrangeas near grasses, I think they compliment each other very nicely. Good luck whatever you decide!
ego45
17 years ago
As i can see there is no limitation to the width of the bed, so I would extend it by 2-3' and plant h. paniculata 'Kuyshu' in tree form in a way that the trunk of the tree will be at least 4' off the deck.
All paniculatas will take described sun/wind/cold conditions, but 'Kuyshu would be especially perfect candidate because it start blooming even before PG and it is naturaly upright, so you could underplant it by anything you wish to.

'Kuyshu' in July
ostrich
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks, luvahydrangea and ego!

Luvahydrangea, I see what you mean about decorative grasses but I don't know if I really like them or not... but I will give it consideration! Thanks!

Ego, thank you for the great idea! I know that there is a Kyushu in a local nursery. It is not in tree form though - is it difficult to train your own Kyushu to turn into tree form?

Thanks again!
yellowgirl
17 years ago
I like all of the above suggestions, but if I were to pick from your list of options, it would definitely be the White Dome. I think it would make the best transition and adds a different texture to the other plantings. Nice property by the way...I would have that woodland border full of Oakleafs!!!.....yg
ostrich
Original Author
17 years ago
Hi yg! When I saw the White Dome at the local nursery, I was quite taken by the beauty of the blooms! Now, how big do they really get in zone 5, and when do they start to bloom and how long do the blooms last for please?

Thanks!
ego45
17 years ago
I might sound overly argumentative, but White Dome is absolutely unsuitable for this particular location, IMO.
If you think Annabelle is droopy, then she is a very upright plant in comparison to WD.
Due to the dense structure of the flowerheads they become wet and heavy even after a lightest rain and will bend down all those slender new branches they are growing on.
It's a great plant for woodland setting or back of the border, but definitely not as a stand alone show piece.
yellowgirl
17 years ago
I bow to King George.....(lol)

Sorry Ostrich...I based my opinion on what I've read about them and the look of White Dome (aka Dardom) and thought it's more delicate blooms would be lighter than Annabelle's and therefore less likely to droop and since it also blooms on new wood, it could be pruned to size.

HOWEVER, since I don't yet grow it myself, I would have to defer to EGO's more experienced opinion. All you have to do is look at his pictures to know he knows his stuff!! After I went back to the books and looked it up again, I found that pictures of this plant are indeed usually shown in a shady setting. Oh well, back to the drawing board......yg
ostrich
Original Author
17 years ago
EGO and YG, thank you again! I really appreciate all of your opinions!

So, ego, how easy is it to train a Kyushu into tree form please? I can find one in my local nursery but it's not in tree form... please advise! Thanks again.
ego45
17 years ago
Re: training shrub into tree.
In that respect Kuyshu is not any different than PG or any other paniculata, you have to chose the strong leader, stake it, prune all other shoots that are coming out of the base, trim out all side branches from the leader to the point of desired height and in a 3-4 years you'll have a young tree that will look similarly to those sold in a nurseries.
Keep in mind that not all plants growing as a shrubs are suitable for training into trees, they might have no VERTICAL leader, but instead have 2-3-4 main trunks growing up at different angles. Those could be trained into excellent 'umbrella' type shrubs, but not into trees.
By chance one of the my PGs developed a leader AND 3 almost simmetrically spaced angled shoots from the base. I'm currently in year 3 of training it into 2-tiers and possibly 3-tiers (if leader permits) umbrella.
Unfortunately it is not properly sited to be admired in such unusual shape and in early spring of next year I have to move it. Would be not an easy job.
ostrich
Original Author
17 years ago
Hi ego,

I just went to do my Kyushu search today! LOL

Anyway, the Kyushu's that this ONE local nursery carries (no other ones have Kyushu's around here! Yikes...) are rather bushy and can't really be trained into a tree, because they do not have that clear leader that you were referring to. That's a shame...

However, they do have some Pink Diamonds that do have a good leader. What do you think of training Pink Diamond into a tree?

Oh, they also have lots of Little Lambs too! What do you think of them? Do they also turn pink too? How would you compare Little Lamb to Kyushu and Pink Diamond, in terms of how floriferous they are and how early they bloom? I know that it is quite a bit smaller than the other two...

Thank you again for your great help!
ego45
17 years ago
Re: PDiamond.
If you are able to find Pink Diamonds trainable into tree you are lucky. I have yet to see one either already trained into tree form or with at least potential for that.
Possibly I'm just unlucky, but all PDs I saw so far were either young sprawlers or not so dense bushes. Absence of PD trees in commerce also leads me to believe that this particular cultivar is not very suitable for the tree form.
I could be very wrong on that, but before I'll see nice PD tree in my own eyes I'll stand on this position.

Re: LLamb. Great shrub! Very floriferous. It's really PG in miniature. If properly pruned, in bloom it will resemble large white lamb from the distance and each individual flowerhead indeed resemble a little lamb from the close view. However it is definitely not ment to be trained into tree form and in your particular setting/situation less likely will serve the purpose since you mostly will be looking at it from above. Notwithstanding to anything, if you have a space for 4x4 or 5x5 shrub and could find a position where you preferably will see it from bottom up you'll immensely enjoy it.

P.S. If you are not able to find Kuyshu, DO NOT settle for Tardiva, which is readily available in commerce and is similar in appearance and habit to Kuyshu, but start blooming very late (in August for me). In z5 you'll have a very short bloom period.
ostrich
Original Author
17 years ago
ego, thank you so much! I really appreciate your helpful response.

I saw many Tardiva shrubs on a nice single trunk and some trees too - the shape was nice, but like you said, I avoided them because of their short bloom times here!

I am now very tempted to get the Little Lamb! The ones that they carry in this garden center are already very bushy in a 2-3 gallon container. It will also look more different than Limelight, which I have in the close vicinity. Otherwise, I think I will get the Pink Diamond.

Do the white blooms turn pink with Little Lamb? Just like the PG blooms?

Thank you again!

Which hydrangea would you plant in this area?

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