Terry L. Ettinger Horticulture Consulting Services
Meeting The Needs Of Today With A Vision For The Future
Recommended Shrubs -
Oakleaf Hydrangea
Though
commonly available in local garden centers for at least the past ten to fifteen years, oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia),
at right, is far from
common in Central New York landscapes and gardens.
This is unfortunate, because this medium-sized shrub, which is native to the open woodlands of the Carolinas, eastern Tennessee, Georgia and west to Alabama (the state's official "wildflower") and Mississippi, offers almost everything you could want in a landscape plant, including:
- Year-round visual interest
- Insect and disease resistance
- Thrives in both sun and shade
- Relatively fast-growing
To begin, the plant gets its name from its
large, oak-like leaves. From the picture at left you can see that
they're very large - often eight to ten inches long and wide, adding
texture to a garden even when the plant is not in bloom.
Next, the cream-colored, early July flowers, technically "panicles,"
are also very large, often ten inches long and four to six inches
wide at their base. The
flowers
retain their initial color through much of July, then gradually fade
through pink from August into September, before drying to
tan in October. The result is that the flowers, alone, provide
interest in the garden for the better part of three to four months!
Later in the season, the leaves turn a
very deep burgundy, with hints of scarlet and even a trace of yellow
in spots, below left. The
effect
is stunning, especially when set against an evergreen backdrop or
contrasted with a plant having bright yellow fall foliage!
The plant continues to provide interest in the garden as its peeling, cinnamon-colored bark is attractive when draped with new-fallen snow.
While I've seen this plant grow more than ten feet tall and wide in Washington, D.C., I think five to eight feet tall and wide is more likely here in Central New York. If it gets a little out-of-bounds, simply cut off the offending branch at the point where it attaches to a larger branch in July, red line in photo below right. With no more than four or five snips, it's easy to reduce the height and width of this plant by a foot, or more.
Finally,
one of the very best features of this shrub is that it can deliver
all of the above ornamental traits in very shady spots in your
landscape or garden. In fact, we have one growing against the north
side of our home where it hasn't received a ray of direct sunlight
in ten years and it's reliably covered with blooms every July 4th!