During the flowering period of hydrangea, the garden takes on a particularly romantic and festive appearance. For landscape design, a plant that blooms from the beginning of summer to frost can solve a wide variety of problems. Three-colored, with a variety of shades, hydrangea will enrich the open area and create an attractive accent.
The origin and appearance of the plant
A modern plant is distributed throughout the world. Universal and undemanding to care, it lives from 40 years and longer. Inflorescences blooming all summer can not get bored, even white varieties change color throughout life. From greenish, to creamy, creamy, to white and vice versa. What can we say about large-leafed "chameleons", where on the bush you can see at the same time beautiful flowers of different colors and shades.
In the garden with perennials
Plant flower description
The bush blooms with shields at the ends of young or last year's shoots, small (fertile) fruit-bearing flowers. They are located in the middle, and large (sterile) bloom from the edge.
Important! The plant is poisonous, since it contains hydrocyanic acid in all parts, especially poisonous fruits.
Species and varieties
In the conditions of the Moscow Region and even Siberia, gardeners grow panicle and tree species. Of course, there are varieties that are the most frost-resistant, able to withstand up to - 400 C, mainly for the sake of confidence that the bush will survive the winter, it is highly spudded, covered with lapnik. The remaining varieties of hydrangeas for growing are more suitable for temperate and southern climate gardens.
Tree-like
Tree hydrangea has a characteristic feature, its inflorescences are spherical in shape. A domed loose bush, under the weight of bunches, tends to fall apart. In the middle lane grows about 2 meters. It is frost-resistant, in some varieties the indicator is t -39 ° C. After freezing the ground part, the shrub quickly regenerates and blooms on young shoots.
The initial color of the tree is white, but thanks to the selection work, the assortment of varieties has been enriched with all shades of pink.
Tree Hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens Annabelle) Annabelle, a native of the US state of Ohio, has been cultivated for almost 300 years (1746). The size of some inflorescences approaches 30 cm.
To this day, Annabelle's white plain hydrangea, one of the most sought-after varieties. Varieties with red, pink, golden cream color also originated from it:
- Pink Annabelle;
- Red annabelle;
- Golden Annabelle;
- Incredible (Strong Annabelle) - a variety with the most massive (35 - 40 cm) inflorescences.
Flowering varieties Strong Anabel
In a warm climate, Annabelle grows into a 3-meter tree, in a moderate maximum size of a round bush hydrangea does not exceed 2 meters.
White spherical hydrangea, varieties:
- Annabelle
- Incredible;
- Grandiflora (Grandiflora);
- White House (WhiteDome);
- Sterilis (Sterilis);
- Hayes Starburst
- Hillsof Snow
Pink spherical hydrangea, popular varieties:
- Bella Anna;
- Pink Annabel;
- Red Annabel;
- Invisibelle Spirit (Invincibelle Spirit);
- Pink Pincushion
Panicle
Paniculate hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata) has been grown since 1861, there are much more modern varieties than tree-like.
Panicle hydrangea grows in large, up to 3 m, bush, lush crown, spherical habit. Loose clusters of flowers are collected in a wide pyramidal, conical shape.
It blooms from July to frost. The flowers, from greenish ripen and become snowy white, with a pinkish glow. As the flowers mature, they become more and more colored in pink, and wilting is marked by green clusters. Some varieties, like the popular Polar Bear and Limelight, do not have pink hues; in the process of development, their flowers acquire a golden, cream shade, with a gradual departure to green.
Additional Information! Panicled hydrangea can be grown with a bush or tree; some varieties look great in a standard form.
Maximum plant reaches 3 m in height, and the width of the crown significantly exceeds it (4 - 9 m). The plant is fast-growing, good conditions and competent agricultural technology for 3 to 4 years will allow you to admire the flowering fountain.
Panicle
Additional Information! The roots of panicled hydrangea are shallow underground, growing for the most part in breadth, therefore, root soil should be loosened carefully.
The most popular varieties
- Grandiflora (Grandiflora);
- Floribunda;
- Praecox (Praecox);
- Polar Bear;
- Limelight (Limelight) a unique color, golden green, cream;
- Silver Dollar (Cream Dollar) cream-yellow hydrangea with the transition to white;
- Phantom
- Wims Red; burgundy hydrangea;
- Pinky Winky
- Vanilla Fraise
Both varieties of hydrangeas - panicled and tree-like - can be used in a bouquet for a cut, they slowly fade and are perfectly preserved as a dried flower.
Large leaf
Large-leaved hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla) otherwise it is called garden - it is a bright, spectacular shrub, but alas, for the southern climate.
Additional Information! Undersized hydrangea large-leaved can be grown as a potted plant form, with the possibility of wintering indoors.
In the middle lane, she cannot survive in open ground, the winter hardiness of the plant is t - 10 ° C. Some gardeners decide to experiment, but constantly digging out hydrangea for wintering indoors is very labor intensive. In the shelter, the shrub can warp, spring "temperature swings" are especially dangerous.
Hydrangea is violet, lilac hydrangea is still the same pink, at different times in the life of the flower. On one plant, you can observe changes in the color of flowers of different inflorescences, a change in its intensity. Moreover, you can change the color of the bush by acidifying the soil at the roots. An interesting effect is obtained if the soil is periodically acidified from different sides.
Large-leaved garden hydrangea
Some types of large-leaved hydrangeas are more adapted to harsh conditions. So, in 2003 in the USA (Minnesota) St. Nursery Paul's Bailey Nurseries was introduced to the Endless Summer variety. The plant is resistant to growing in the suburbs (4th climatic zone), has the property to bloom on the shoots of this year. The variety became the founder of the Forever & Ever series.
He received Endless Summer Blushing Bride hydrangea (Blush bride), and in 2005, the variety Early Sensation (Early Sensation) was introduced.
Other hydrangeas
In total, the genus hydrangeas has more than 50 species. In Russia, shrubs naturally grow on the Sakhalin Peninsula and the Kuril Islands.
Hydrangea Bretschneider
A high winter hardiness in hydrangea bretschneider (Hydrangea bretschneideri). The plant was discovered by a botanist in 1882 in the mountains of China. The species was not widely used due to its unpretentiousness of its inflorescences; it does not have varietal diversity.
Flowering occurs in the second half of summer. The inflorescences are corymbose flattened, consist mostly of small white fertile flowers, only a little sterile, large located along the edge of the bunch. The bushes are very high, about 3 m can compete with the widespread thuja.
Petiole hydrangea
The shrub is a lianike plant, with the help of suction cups growing in the trunk of the air, rootlets can wrap around supports up to 20 m high. Without supports, petiole hydrangea behaves like a groundcover.
Liana petiolate
In the natural range of growth, the liana lives among coniferous forests, encircling powerful tree trunks. Petrel hydrangea has spread from the east of Asia (Sakhalin Peninsula, Kuril Islands, Japan, Korea, China).
Other types of garden hydrangeas are not common.
Care Features
The basis of plant care, regardless of the type of hydrangea, is the correct pruning and regular watering.
Pruning should be carried out in the spring, before the sap flow begins. All weak, thin branches are removed, strong flower shoots will not grow from them. During flowering, the shrub will be little decorative, hydrangea with small inflorescences and flowers will not attract proper attention. The number of stems required for a lush bush is 10 or 12 pieces in an adult plant, they need to be shortened by 1-2 buds.
Young shoots are already in bloom this year, so for thinning shrubs you can safely remove the oldest branches "on a stump".
Correct cropping pattern
When planting a specific flower, it is better to focus on its varietal characteristics. Planting is required in a shaded area. The full sun on the south side withstands white hydrangea and some panicled varieties. Hydrangea (a vessel with water) is a Latin transcription of the name, most accurately reflects the hydrophilicity of the plant.
All types of hydrangeas need abundant regular watering. In the summer, in the dry period, for one bush of an adult plant (from 3 years), it is required to irrigate twice a week 10 - 14 liters of settled or rain water.
Important! Hydrangea also suffers from stagnation of water at the roots, as well as from its lack.
The shrub loves clay, slightly acidic, nutritious soil, which is able to retain moisture. Regular top dressing will allow you to get a large bush with plentiful foliage and lush flowering throughout the season, if you follow the rules:
- Fertilizers with a high nitrogen content are applied in spring and in the first half of summer. They give strength to the plant to grow strong shoots.
- Potash and phosphorus top dressing begin to be introduced during the formation of inflorescences and until the end of autumn - these elements saturate the plant with the necessary trace elements for flowering and preparation for winter.
An adult shrub requires 2 to 3 buckets of diluted fertilizer. Three times during the season, it is advisable to pour the soil with a solution of potassium permanganate (0.2 g. 7 - 8 l).
The plant is extremely demanding on the acidity of the soil. The presence of lime in the soil contributes to poor development and growth. A plant can get sick with chlorosis, spots appear on the leaves, they gradually turn yellow.
When the first signs appear, it is necessary to increase the acidity of the soil. Useful for this:
- special fertilizers for hydrangeas, with an acidifying effect;
- ash, lime, gypsum, chalk;
- dolomite flour;
- coniferous litter;
- as folk methods, hydrangeas are watered with kefir or whey;
- dissolved crystals of citric acid or a weak solution of vinegar.
Hydrangea - in other words, a royal rose - can turn a garden path into a secluded labyrinth, cover a fence with a flowering hedge, become a central focus on a green lawn - the magnificent, unpretentious beauty can do everything.
