Hydrangea shrubs are plants with handsome foliage and big beautiful summer blooms. They thrive in the shade, brightening the garden with blue, pink, white or lime-green flowers. One plant makes an outstanding specimen, a row makes a flowering hedge. For small gardens there are dwarf and container varieties, compact but retaining the big blooms. All hydrangeas bloom in the summer, with many selections of newer varieties that will rebloom long into the season.
Hydrangeas do well in partially shaded areas like under a large tree or on the side of a house. They like to receive sun in the morning, and the partial shade is in the heat of the afternoon. In Colorado, too much full sun will cause them to get sunburned.Â
Make sure to water your hydrangea shrubs regularly. Those big blooms require a lot of water to stay lush and full. About one inch of water throughout the week is ideal. If they receive more sun give them at least two inches during the hotter summer days.Â
Hydrangea shrubs need to have well-draining soils that is rich in organic matter. Most Colorado soils will benefit from the addition of peat moss and compost that helps retain moisture. The pH determines the colors of the blooms. Acidic soil will give you blue flowers, and alkaline soil gives you pink flowers.Â
If hydrangea shrubs are given too much high-nitrogen fertilizer, they may grow full and lush, but there will be fewer flowers. If the soil is rich, fertilizer is not needed. Otherwise, a light application in March or April may be warranted.
A valuable genus grown for their large and very showy flower heads, Hydrangeas are at their best in summer and fall—a quiet time for most woody plants—and these shrubs are worth having for that reason alone
The Original revolutionized the way gardeners were able to incorporate hydrangea shrubs in their landscapes. It is still the hallmark of the shrub collection, and with good reason. The first hydrangea discovered that blooms on the previous year’s woody stems and the new season’s growth. This versatility and demonstrated quality make The Original a must for your garden landscape!
Height: 3 – 5 feet
Width: 3 – 5 feet
Exposure: Morning Sun, Part Shade
Twist-n-Shout Hydrangeas are the first re-blooming lace-cap hydrangea that boasts picturesque deep pink or periwinkle blue hydrangea flowers from late spring through fall. With loads of dependable blooms and intense hydrangea colors, these lace-cap hydrangeas have become a favorite for everyone, from new gardeners to Master Gardeners! Whether you enjoy Twist-n-Shout as an accent or to fill an entire perennial garden, there is no doubt that you will be dancing your way through summer with these endless blooms.
Height: 3 – 5 feet
Width: 3 – 4 feet
Exposure: Morning Sun, Part Shade
Summer Crush hydrangeas bring floral quality blooms to your garden or patio container. Not only is it drop-dead gorgeous, but it is compact, so you get a neat, tidy look throughout the summer. Fill a patio container with Summer Crush for a stunning look all season long. Summer Crush hydrangeas will make your outdoor living space the talk of the neighborhood.
Height: 18 – 36 inches
Width: 18 – 36 inches
Exposure: Morning Sun, Part Shade
 BloomStruck has the ability to change the blooms’ color to your liking. Depending on soil pH, you can have vivid rose-pink or purple hydrangea flower heads. BloomStruck also has incredibly beautiful red-purple stems, dark green leaves with red petioles, and red veins, which give a great contrast to your other garden shrubs, perennials, and annuals.Â
Height: 3 – 4 feet
Width: 4 – 5 feet
Exposure: Morning Sun, Part Shade
Blushing Bride has pure white semi-double florets, which mature to blush pink or Carolina blue, depending on soil pH. Starting in late spring, Blushing Bride graces the garden with big round balls of soft blooms, providing an elegant touch of color in the garden all the way into fall. The special joy of Blushing Bride is its adaptability both in your landscape and for cut hydrangea arrangements.
Height: 3 – 6 feet
Width: 3 – 6 feet
Exposure: Part Shade
The Alice Oakleaf Hydrangea is the perfect shrub for the large spaces in shady parts of your garden. It will grow from 5 to 12 feet tall, depending on your soil, moisture levels, shade, and local climate. It will be as wide as it is tall. With spectacular fall colors of deep-red, purple, and bronze, its large, lobed leaves are a joy to behold. In summer it carries enormous spikes of white flowers, 12 inches long, or even more.
Height: 3 – 4 feet
Width: 5 feet
Exposure: Morning Sun, Part Shade
When you combine the acclaimed Snow Queen Hydrangea with the dwarf Pee Wee, the result is the stuff of fairytales. Enter ‘Ruby Slippers,’ a hydrangea developed by the National Arboretum to stand above the rest. Its magnificent 9-inch long inflorescences burst with color that changes throughout the season. Keep watching all summer as the multitude of small, rounded blossoms go from white to blush pink to a vibrant ruby red worthy of Oz.Â
Height: 3 – 4 feet
Width: 5 feet
Exposure: Morning Sun, Part Shade
‘Munchkin’ is a handsome dwarf Oakleaf Hydrangea. During summer, abundant 6-inch long flower clusters start white and fade to pink and finally to red as they age. Another outstanding feature is the handsome dark green foliage which turns mahogany in fall.
Height: 3 – 4 feet
Width: 5 – 6 feet
Exposure: Morning Sun, Part Shade
Vigorous and upright, this impressive rounded-form shrub is covered in large clusters of creamy white florets that mature to chartreuse green in the midsummer weeks. As fall approaches, the dense flower panicles change to deep pink for an altogether different look. Sturdy stems keep the flower heads upright and visible through any kind of weather.
Height: 6 – 8 feet
Width: 6 – 8 feet
Exposure: Morning Sun, Part Shade
When you combine the acclaimed Snow Queen Hydrangea with the dwarf Pee Wee, the result is the stuff of fairytales. Enter ‘Ruby Slippers,’ a hydrangea developed by the National Arboretum to stand above the rest. Its magnificent 9-inch long inflorescences burst with color that changes throughout the season. Keep watching all summer as the multitude of small, rounded blossoms go from white to blush pink to a vibrant ruby red worthy of Oz.Â
Height: 3 – 4 feet
Width: 5 feet
Exposure: Morning Sun, Part Shade
This great new Hydrangea bears so many flowers you can hardly see the leaves! And at 2 1/2-3′ tall and 3-4′ wide, it is small enough that even space-challenged gardens can enjoy a magnificent Hydrangea paniculata. Extremely reliable and easy to grow, it will bloom regardless of climate, soil, pH, or pruning. It even tolerates drought!
Height: 30 – 36 inches
Width: 36 – 48 inches
Exposure: Part Shade
Striking ruby-black stems support big mophead flowers on this exquisite reblooming hydrangea. A superb border shrub for color throughout summer; blue in acidic soils and pink in more alkaline soils. Flowers age to a vintage cream-splashed green color. Prized for a cut or dried flower arrangements. Deciduous.
Height: 3 – 5 feet
Width: 3 – 5 feet
Exposure: Morning Sun, Part Shade
Quick Fire® hydrangea blooms about a month before any other panicle hydrangea – usually by the 4th of July in our West Michigan trial gardens. Flowers open pure white, then turn pink and will be an extremely dark rosy-pink in the fall. The flower color on Quick Fire hydrangea is not affected by soil pH. Blooms on this super-hardy and easy to grow hydrangea are produced on new wood, which means that you will see flowers even after even the harshest winters.
Height: 6 – 8 feet
Width: 6 – 8 feet
Exposure: Morning Sun, Part Shade
The name says it all—this diminutive shrub throws fluffy, creamy spikes that turn to deep pink with red highlights on bold, red stems. You’ll enjoy their color in your garden before other paniculata varieties have even begun to bloom. Growing just 3–5′ tall, it’s the perfect accent plant or low flowering hedge.
Height: 3 – 5 feet
Width: 3 – 5 feet
Exposure: Morning Sun, Part Shade
Pinky Winky has an unusual name and an even more unusual flower. The large panicles open white in mid-to-late summer, turning to pink as the season progresses, for a two-toned effect. Every year, this hardy selection blooms—an outstanding specimen plant, massed in the landscape or as a cut flower.
Height: 6 – 8 feet
Width: 6 – 8 feet
Exposure: Morning Sun, Part Shade
Hydrangeas do well in partially shaded areas like under a large tree or on the side of a house. They like to receive sun in the morning, and the partial shade is in the heat of the afternoon. In Colorado, too much full sun will cause them to get sunburned.
Hydrangea shrubs need to have well-draining soils that is rich in organic matter. Most Colorado soils will benefit from the addition of peat moss and compost that helps retain moisture. The pH determines the colors of the blooms. Acidic soil will give you blue flowers, and alkaline soil gives you pink flowers. Â
If hydrangea shrubs are given too much high-nitrogen fertilizer, they may grow full and lush, but there will be fewer flowers. If the soil is rich, fertilizer is not needed. Otherwise, a light application in March or April may be warranted.
Make sure to water your hydrangea shrubs regularly. Those big blooms require a lot of water to stay lush and full. About one inch of water throughout the week is ideal. If they receive more sun give them at least two inches during the hotter summer days.
April is here! There are signs of spring popping up everywhere you look. Early bulbs have emerged, trees are showing new buds, and perennials are
Spring is here and you know what that means. The 2024 gardening season is about to be in full swing here in our Colorado climate!
It’s nearly spring and we hear you! You’re ready for warm weather and colorful landscapes. Those early spring blooms are a bright, wonderful sign of
It’s a new calendar year and that means it’s time to dive into the new houseplant trends for 2024! There are some exciting new things
