Hydrangeas - a great plant for Northwest Gardens

What easy-to-grow plant gives you tons of cool flowers from summer through fall and are easily preserved to be brought indoors until next year's flowers come back?  Hydrangeas are some of the most rewarding plants you can grow with very little effort.  Plant these beauties in partial shade to mostly shade, mulch with plenty of good compost and just make sure they get adequate water in their first couple of seasons.  They will provide you with lots of great flowers that can fill your garden with color for many months of the year.

When you need to brighten up your home interior simply cut several stems and place in a large vase in several inches of water.  As the water dries up the flowers will begin to dry and before you know it you will have a lovely bouquet of dried Hydrangea flowers that will look great for many months (and maybe years.)

Double Delight Hydrangeas

Wedding Gown

A double lace-cap type of hydrangea, absolutely packed with petals, it begins flowering in mid-spring in some climates, then repeats on "new wood" (the current season's growth) in late summer and fall! This means that even if you live in a climate where spring is long and cold, you'll still be assured on one season of gorgeous flowers from Double Delights™ Wedding Gown!

Like most Hydrangeas, Double Delights™ Wedding Gown appreciates some shade, especially in warmer climates. It offers bright green foliage, large and serrated, that keeps it attractive even when out of bloom. And it likes all the water it can get, but needs good soil drainage. Once established, it tolerates everything from heat and humidity to poor soil. Pamper it the first few seasons until it finds its feet!

Expressions

A new hydrangea with elegant pink to blue double waterlily-like florets. Young buds glow in paler creamy tones, giving a bicolor effect. Compact plants start blooming late spring and continue until frost. Dense mopheads stay upright, a significant improvement over other rebloomers.  Grows to 4' X 4'. Photo courtesy of Ball Horticulture Today's Garden Center

Lots of Lovely Colors to Plant

Hydrangea macrophylla Endless Summer

A tough forgiving plant that blooms deep blue in Seattle's typical acid soil but can be made to bloom pink by the  generous addition of lime to the soil each year.  Like most hydrangeas, benefits from pruning back the stems by 1/4th to 1/3rd.   Height/width:  3-4'

Pia dwarf hydrangea

Excellent for use in small spaces or as a counterpoint to a larger hydrangea or other plant.  Flower size is similar to the larger forms of hydrangeas but this plant only gets 2 to 3 feet high and wide.  Color can vary depending on soil conditions like other macrophyllas.

Limelight Hydrangea

The summertime bloom of bright lime-green flowers brightens up shady corners of your garden.  In autumn the colors change to shades of pink, burgundy and green.  Can grow to 7 or 8 feet tall and 5 or 6 feet wide.

Little Lime Hydrangea

Similar to the larger Limelight Hydrangea but on a much smaller shrub.  This plant usually gets only 3 to 4 feet tall and wide.

Twist-n-Shout Hydrangea

Lace cap flowers give this hydrangea a different look from the traditional mop-head type of hydrangea.  Similar in color to the Endless Summer variety, this type is slightly smaller and has the lacy flowers made up of both the fertile and sterile flowers for a different effect.  Responds to the soil acidity to determine flower color.

Bella Anna Hydrangea

A reblooming pink arborescens hydrangea!  Like its parent Annabelle, this hydrangea blooms on new wood so it can be cut back to the ground each year late in winter to refresh the plant.  Blooms beautiful magenta-pink throughout the summer and into the fall.  Flowers on tall erect stems that hold up well to the large and plentiful flowers.  Flowers also hold up well throughout the winter  in most settings.

Ayesha Hydrangea Ayesha

Beautiful sturdy pink flowers on nice dark leaved stems make this a somewhat unusual hydrangea.  The flowers even have a slight fragrance to make this hydrangea one to have in your garden.  These plants will grow to 5 feet tall and wide.

Invincibelle Spirit

Rich pink flowers bloom from early summer to frost. Dark pink buds open to hot pink flowers which then turn soft pink as they mature, finally changing to green at the end of their life cycle. Very hardy. Reliable bloomer. $1.00 will be sent to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation for each Invincibelle Spirit sold.

CityLine Hydrangea Paris

This new and improved hybrid has tight sturdy stems. This maintenance free plant will require no pruning and that results in more flowers the next coming summer. Its intense pink-red summer flowers are long lasting and change to green as they age.  These can fill your home with beautiful fresh or dried cut flowers.  This is compact size reaching 3 feet by 3 feet when full grown.  It color does vary with the soil acidity.  To maintain the red coloration in our area it is usually necessary to add lime to the soil each year.

CityLine Hydrangea Berlin

Large pink summer flowers change to green with age.   Growing Tips
Best in well-drained soil that has been amended with peat moss, leaf mold or compost. Flourishes by the ocean. Pruning is usually not needed, but may be pruned immediately after flowering. Prefers moist soils. Fertilize in early spring by applying a slow release fertilizer specialized for trees and shrubs. Follow the label for the recommended rate of application. Flower color is affected by pH. For blue flowers, the soil must be more acidic and for pink flowers the soil must be more alkaline.
Grows to 2 to 3 feet tall and wide.

Hydrangea Quick Fire  Tree form

The first to bloom! QUICK FIRE blooms about a month before other Hydrangea paniculata (hardy hydrangea) varieties. Extend the hydrangea season in your garden with a planting of Hydrangea QUICK FIRE. Flowers open white then turn pink, and will be an extremely dark rosy-pink in the fall. Quick and easy to grow. The flowers on QUICK FIRE are not affected by soil pH. They are produced on ‘new wood’ and will bloom after even the harshest winters. Beautiful for use as a cut (fresh or dried) flower. Plant with Little Lamb and Limelight for months of hydrangea flowers.  Tree form starts at approximately 5 feet tall.