Hydrangea Macrophylla (Annabelle')

17 years ago

We live in So. Dartmouth, MA about one mile from the oean and about 20 miles from Cape Cod. It seems this location may be questionable as far as 'annabelle" planting is concerned.

We would like to develop a feature area having "annabelle" as a cluster of 2 or 3 of these gorgeous plants in a center grouping with other plants and rock surrounding ithem.

We have about a 6 square foot area for the available for the "annabelle'", how many plants do you feel we need?

The soil is definately acid, we are confused as to plant in sun,partial shade or shade, we are fortunate to have all areas to work wih. Our main concern is that if we get to much shade we may sacrifice the blooms. What degree of sun or shade do you recommend for best flower bearing? We understand that a moist ground is favorable. Do you have any suggestions on planting or preparing the soil,depth and width, adding peat moss or fertilizer?

We would appreciate any help you may have.

THANKS,

Joe & Marge Sears

JSears231@aol.com

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (5)

sueRI
17 years ago
Hi,
I live in a very similar climate (about 1/4 mile from the water on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island) I planted several Annabelle bushes 2 summers ago and they are thriving!! I didn't get many blooms last summer but they are covered this summer. The plants are in a partially shaded area, but get limited direct sun. They are planted next to a stone wall which has trees on the other side that branch over and shade it during the afternoon.

Hope this helps!
Sue
ego45
17 years ago
It's definitely suitable for z6.
Six sq. foot area is not enough for even one plant since well grown mature Annabelle will be at least 4' in diameter, though it would need about 4-5 sq. feet of strictly planting (ground) space.
Considering its arching habit (someone may call it floppiness) 4x4=16sq.f would be about right if you don't want it to cover all other plants.
I've seen them growing in our zone anywhere from the full sun to almost full shade with no effect on a blooming ability.
In a full sun it start blooming and greening earlier, but flowers don't last as long as in a more shadier locations.
In almost full shade, as I have some of mine, they start blooming later, but flowers do not start browning till mid October, while more sun exposed plants are almost brown in September already.
3 to 4 hours of sun would be the happy medium.
Related Discussions
Help: Obsessed with Green Hydrangea
Q
Comments (16)
It doesn't just have to be 'Annabelle' - having grown and planted scores of hydrangeas over the years as well as selling hundreds more, I can state with a fair amount of certainty that most white flowered hydrangeas, regardless of type, will produce immature flowers that have distinctly greenish tones. FWIW, even most colored hydrangeas will offer a greenish tone while still in mostly bud. It is just part of the color change the flowers of these plants go through from immature/mostly bud stage, to full flower and finally to faded or aged flower. Specific cultivar, siting and climate will all play a factor - the degree to which this is noticeable is variable. In warmer climates this coloring is less pronounced, especially if in more sun. And despite what you may read online, even 'Limelight' does not hold its green tone throughout the bloom cycle - it eventually becomes a creamy white and then fades to a rosy pink. It might also be helpful to know that hydrangeas for the cut flower trade - like those in the photos - are greenhouse grown and heavily manipulated to develop specific traits, like coloring and larger, heavier blooms on very young plants.
...See More
Hydrangea macrophylla 'Hokomarevo' PPAF
Q
Comments (11)
Glad to be of help. :) I (just) bought all three of those Everlastings in Spring 2013, and purposely stuck them in different places to test hardiness (pot, foundation, and outlying north-facing bed). They all started at about 18" at purchase. The Revolution is by far the most compact, staying at about that size. The others grew to about 24" (Opal) and 30" (Harmony). But being first year forced plants, that growth wasn't entirely accurate as they were already budded by May. Seeing as how the winter was tough on everything, I haven't been able to conclude anything new, as there hasn't yet been green stuff on ANY branches of ANY H. mac, just the first 3" of stem. Even now, things like old deciduous trees are just starting to leaf out, so that tells you how much of a delay things are running on. But yes, these new plants quickly integrate very well into any landscape. I plan on getting a couple more breeds of these when and where available for a good price. The rest I plan to stick in front of a row of slightly taller shrubs (Annabelle and Nikko) in staggered fashion. The color-changing aspects and long-lasting blooms were 100% as advertised last year on all three. Just yesterday, I picked up an Amethyst 1.5 gallon for $17 at a local hardware store that has a keen knack for ordering new releases (they also had 2-gallon Bloomstrucks for $19).
...See More
i think my annabelle hydrangea is really a lacecap
Q
Comments (19)
Most likely, you have a real Annabelle and it has reverted. I know of a bareroot grower that plants Annabelle to his field every year and they verified the mophead flowers for two years, but for some reason after the plants are harvested and stored in a cooler, customers complain that they received a small percentage of mixed lacecaps in with the normally mophead plants. Normally reversions appear on a single branch, so this is odd and defies everything we're taught in hort school about reversions. I asked a well regarded plant physiologist about this and he suspects a jumping gene is triggered which changes the entire plant. It is the best rational I have heard to explain this. Growers report the same problem with Crimson Pygmy barberry, where each year a percentage of their stock plants revert to larger plants. Typically people blame the grower of being sloppy and selling a mix, but here again I suspect a jumping gene flips and changes the entire plant.
...See More
Truth in Advertising Hydrangea macrophylla zone hardiness
Q
Comments (22)
Funny these ES bloomstruck. I'm North of International Falls MN (The icebox of the nation they call themselves)...Zone 3. 2 ES's, planted in spring '15 and they grew some. Summer of '16 great foliage but no flowers. Winter of '16-'17 mild for us up here (but still LOTS of -22F (-29C) in Dec/Jan and -13F (-24C in Feb/March)...yes that's mild for us lol. Summer of '17 we had our first crop of bloomstruck and they were plentiful and gorgeous. We were awed. Winter of '17/'18 was brutally cold hitting -40F/C a few times. Here it is May 30, everything in the yard is "up" as expected. Except the ES. Stalks are light brown/tan and just in the last couple days a little greenery is coming at the very bottom of the plant. I'll be surprised if we even get decent foliage never mind flowers. Meanwhile we have Annabelle's at 3 different locations in yard for 20+ years. Never fail to blossom and are quite spectalular (with literally NO winter protection). Probably last summer with flowers was a fluke, winters are just so cold here. Regardless, if we don't get at least a few flowers on each bush this summer they will be coming out. I don't know why people with mild winters when temps rarely get below freezing have problems with ES. Unless the breed itself is very finicky. Anyway, reading several threads on the ES's seems a lot of folks everywhere have issues with these. As a long time retailer (not nursery plants) the last thing we ever wanted was an un happy customer. If you haven't grown them yourself and had success with them, I don't know that I would even bother offering them for sale if I were you.
...See More
WendyB 5A/MA
17 years ago
'Annabelle' is not a macrophylla. It is H. arborescens(sp.?) and very hardy. (unless there is a new macrophylla that someone named the same as classic Annabelle???)

Macrophyllas are borderline for blooming in Z5/6, but not arborescence.

Agree one plant can take up the full 6' area and then some depending on conditions.

There is suppopsedly a new cultivar of H. aboresence that is supposed to be less floppy. The blooms are a bit flatter though. I forget the name...

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.hort.uconn.edu/Plants/h/hydarb/hydarb1.html
alanc23
17 years ago
Hi,
Looks like good advice. I have an Annabelle growing in half-day to 3/4 day of sun and thriving. It easily takes up 5-6 foot diameter. It was amazing even as a baby. It must be a heavy feeder as my 5? year old puts out 30-50? flower clusters. I don't fuss over a thriving plant. It gets no special watering or fertilizing; depends on God for most of its needs.

I have 2 "Endless Summer"'s. The one in some sun gives 3-5 inch blooms while the younger one in lots of sun gives 12-14 inch blooms.

Alan C.
ego45
17 years ago
Wendy, you are probably refering to 'White Dome' from Proven Winners. Basicly it's a LACECAP arborescence.
It's indeed more upright grower in general, but...there is always some 'but'...
First, it's a fast grower and could easy put 3+' of a new growth in a growing season. Those young green stems could not support their own weight when in flower and start arching downward ala PG. After the rain or overhead watering you have the same ole 'flopping' Annabelle-like appearance. Dense fertile centers hold much more (and longer) water than spaced sterile florets of Annabelle, thus once stems start arching down they'll stay the same way till end of the season. You may leave it unpruned and it will be 5-6 footer in its second season. That also will take care (partially) of droopiness/floppiness issue.
Don't take me wrong it's a great plant for the woodland border or any kind of natural setting, but in no way it could be viewed as a substitude or improvement over the real one-and-only Annabelle.

Hydrangea Macrophylla (Annabelle')

Comments (5)

sueRI

ego45

Related Discussions

WendyB 5A/MA

alanc23

ego45

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US