Bouffant ‘mop-heads: Hydrangeas are in flower now and the best varieties will age graciously
- Nigel Colborn was lucky to see superb hydrangea in full bloom in a front garden
- UK-based gardening expert says the best varieties age attractively in autumn
- He reveals spring is the best time to prune hydrangeas
When they haven't become car parks, front gardens can be inspirational. Passing by, you might spot a quirky design or a plant at its jaw-dropping best.
On a recent walk, I was lucky to see a superb hydrangea in full bloom. Above a low brick wall was a leafy mound carrying beautiful flower clusters. Each resembled a Victorian lacecap with mauve-pink flowers at its centre, surrounded by large bracts. Each of those was white, with pink-tinged margins.
Despite the pink, I believed the variety to be Hydrangea macrophylla, or Blue Wave, also called Perfecta. The soil was alkaline. In acid conditions, those subtle colour highlights would have been a soft blue.
A hydrangea's colour ambiguity can be a source of frustration.
Chameleons: Hydrangea macrophylla can change colour depending on soil type
Keen gardeners with lime-rich soils pine for intense-blue mopheads. In acid areas, such as Devon or Cumbria, some yearn for bright pinks among the blues.
Gardeners can be terrible control freaks. Some even use colourants; aluminium salts that acidify the soil.
BILLOWING MOUNDS
Mop-head hydrangeas originate from the Japanese
Hydrangea macrophylla. The wild shrub has large leaves and lace-cap flowers. After centuries of breeding, H. macrophylla varieties come in 'mop-head' types with large, rounded flower heads as well as lace-caps.
Today's choice is vast, with frequent new varieties.
Some are compact, suitable for large containers or open ground. Others become billowing shrubs, long-lasting in flower with foliage that stays fresh all summer.
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In autumn, the best varieties age attractively. Leaves and mop-heads develop subtle and interesting greens, pinks and rusty reds. Blooms gathered in late September can be good for arranging indoors.
Given space, massed hydrangeas look magnificent. If grown along a bank or to line a woodland glade, they're better than rhododendrons. Fresh flowers bloom from June, sustaining colour well into autumn.
On mop-head varieties, colours come from sterile bracts rather than the true flowers. These are more durable than petals, clean and fresh when young and holding their brilliance for weeks.
Hydrangeas developed from other species can also produce lace-cap flower heads.
The widest choice and most reliable performers are cultivars of H. macrophylla.
PLENTY OF CHOICE
There are more than 80 wild species. Some, such as H. paniculata and H. quercifolia are popular shrubs. But the most abundant garden varieties were developed from H. macrophylla and close relatives. H. serrata is a lace-cap with serrated or pinked edges to the bracts.
A hydrangea's first flowers are carried in plump terminal buds on mature shoots. Those are vulnerable to frosts, but deadheads left on can provide some protection. Spring is, therefore, the best time to prune hydrangeas.
These plants prefer sun or partial shade, but dislike drought and show stress in hot weather. So if your soil is fast-draining, work compost into it.
When buying, the choice is extensive, but try specialists such as burncoose.co.uk or signaturehydrangeas.co.uk.
To raise your own, take softwood cuttings in spring, or try with semi-ripe shoots taken in late August. They can be slow to root, so be patient.
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