Plants I Dig: Summer Hydrangea Madness

The beginning of Summer marks the beginning of hydrangea season. Still in my minds eye is a picture of the long hydrangea border at Martha Stewart’s house. I have long loved Hydrangeas and each year there are new ones introduced. Several in the past couple of years have made it into my garden and they are fabulous. Here are some of my new favorites.

Hydrangea ‘Zorro’

Zorro is a vigorous rounded but upright deciduous shrub with deep purple-black stems, dark green leaves that color well in autumn and flattened lace cap flower heads bearing ultramarine ray florets with occasional white centers. The key word here is vigorous. In the past there have been introductions of black-stemmed hydrangeas that have not lived up to their hype. But the color of the flower of Zorro is beautiful and consistent, not given to reverting to pink (in my experience).

Hydrangea ‘Zebra’

This hydrangea also has black stems. Instead of blue flowers the glowing white flower heads and lush green foliage provide a brilliant contrast to the near-black stems. A mop-head style of flower instead of the lace cap of the Zorro it is a beautiful addition of white to a shady bed. Zebra has a long blooming season and a tough but undemanding nature. The leaves also color well in autumn.

Hydrangea aspera ‘Plum Passion’

This lovely Dan Hinkley introduction has great dark purple leaves. Being an aspera cultivar the growth is rangy and the leaves textured and fuzzy. The foliage alone is worth a place in your garden. When the delicate white lace cap type flower comes out of a tight purple bud you will fall in love all over again. The contrast of Plum Passion’s wispy flowers floating above the robust heavy textured purple leaves is amazing.

Hydrangea ‘Lemon Daddy’

This is an amazingly vigorous bright yellow-foliaged seedling (not a sport) of Hydrangea ‘Big Daddy’. Lemon Daddy grows 3′ tall and about 5′ wide and is adorned with huge mophead flowers that open white and turn either blue or a light pink. They should turn blue in our acidic soil. The foliage alone is worth growing it, simply cut off the flowers if they offend (yes I really would). I’ve tried Hydrangea ‘lemon wave’ in the garden and it was so wimpy I finally took it out. This one stands proud and bright green.

Hydrangea ‘Quick Fire’

Standing at the back of the bed is hydrangea ‘quick fire’, a beautiful paniculata variety with red stems, turning a fiery hot pink/red in the fall. The flowers are not a big clumpy head that can get damaged in our sometimes-rainy summers. This flower shakes off the rain and doesn’t brown out like some of the paniculatas. They have a combination of sterile and non-sterile flowers like a lace cap but are cone shaped like a paniculata.

This last photo is a hydrangea that was removed from a garden that came to live in the woodland two years ago. It was pink when it first came and it would be re-homed if its color didn’t improve. The threat was heard and this year it is a luscious purple color. No special amendments were used; the native soil must have a low (acid) PH. I sometimes put fine fir bark around all plants that love acid PH.

Hydrangeas need part shade for best foliage and flower color but a blast of sun through the day is not a bad thing. Full shade will decrease flowers. All of these are fully hardy in zone 7 and will be happy with good water.