Happiness with Hydrangeas

Plant shoppers across North America can be assured of finding a range of beautiful Hydrangea types and varieties to choose from in 2023. The Hydrangea market continues to grow which makes this an exciting time to select a variety that brings something entirely unique to your garden or patio containers. Here are some especially intriguing hydrangeas that stand out from the crowd.

First Editions Little Hottie Hydrangea from Bailey Nurseries is attracting a lot of attention for its very full flower heads that cover the plant from the bottom to the top. A panicle hydrangea bred in Georgia for heat tolerance, Little Hottie’s flowers are said to resist heat stress and browning in excessive heat. Regardless, hydrangeas are moisture-loving plants, but it is of special interest that breeders are striving to address the effect of excessive heat on hydrangea blooms.

Little Hottie’s main attributes include its impressive flower coverage, a compact, well-branched habit with a mature size of 3-4 feet (1.25 m.), and exceptional winter hardiness (Zone 3). The flower heads emerge green and turn white before transitioning to antique shades of white and pink in late summer or early fall when temperatures become cooler. A comparison might be Bobo panicle hydrangea which is also a blooming powerhouse, however, Little Hottie is a new generation hydrangea that boasts strong stems and exceptional form. If you searched in vain for Little Hottie last summer which was its introductory year, expect to be successful this year. Little Hottie thrives in full sun.

The Seaside Serenade Hydrangea series from Monrovia is a unique collection of 10 compact mophead and lacecap varieties. Most of the varieties are hardy to Zone 4. I grow Seaside Serenade Fire Island, a Zone 4 bigleaf cultivar which I purchased locally in 2020. The deep pink, ruffled blooms are gorgeous, and the plant is easy to grow. Seaside Serenade Bar Harbor is hardy to Zone 3. It has creamy white blooms atop strong, sturdy stems. This year, Glacier Bay has been added to the collection and it truly is a standout with notably sturdy black stems, showy bright green thick foliage, and pure white lacecap flowers. A Zone 4 reblooming hydrangea that grows three feet tall and wide, Glacier Bay will bring sheer elegance to your garden beds or patio containers. If I was looking for a beautiful hydrangea to display at a wedding, Glacier Bay would be my first choice. Full morning sun and afternoon dappled shade is best.

Hydrangea serrata Tuff Stuff and Tuff Stuff Ah-Ha are part of the Proven Winners ColorChoice Tuff Stuff hydrangea line. The Tuff Stuff series of mountain hydrangeas were bred by Tim Wood, a prolific hydrangea breeder who has introduced some of the most popular hydrangea varieties we grow in our gardens today. The panicle hydrangea is the most common type of hydrangea found at garden centres across the prairies. Next, we find macrophylla and lacecap hydrangeas but these make up a much smaller percentage of hydrangeas sold to gardeners in Zone 3.

What makes the Tuff Stuff series of mountain hydrangeas such an exciting new option for cold climate gardeners is its strong bud hardiness. Native to chilly mountainous areas, Hydrangea serrata has been bred for cold hardiness and repeat flowering. I was given Tuff Stuff Ah-Ha to trial in my garden in 2018 but with a Zone 5a hardiness rating, I wasn’t expecting it to survive. It has, though, survived past winters admirably with only a 5-7 cm mulch layer of shredded leaves in late fall for added winter protection.

Tuff Stuff Ah-Ha has soft pink lacecap flowers that resemble a water lily. It is a cross between Tuff Stuff and Hydrangea macrophylla. Tuff Stuff, the first in the series, is a semi-double, reblooming reddish-pink lacecap. It has also performed well in local gardens. The one caveat is that it is important to not prune or cut back Tuff Stuff reblooming mountain hydrangeas at any time of the year as this will remove flower buds. I wait to remove just the dried blooms in spring only once the new growth begins to emerge on the stems. Plant in part sun.

Aubin Nurseries, a wholesale nursery in Carman, plans to carry Tuff Stuff and Tuff Stuff Ah-Ha this year. Garth Aubin, inventory management and logistics, says that hydrangea varieties such as Little Hottie, Tuff Stuff, and Tuff Stuff Ah-Ha, will not be available to ship to Aubin’s retail customers until midsummer. You can expect to find a good selection of hydrangeas at garden centres this spring but if you have the patience, your best opportunity to find the greatest variety of hydrangea shrubs that are fully leafed out and in bloom is early to mid-summer when truckloads of shrubs begin arriving at garden centres in earnest.

Hydrangea arborescens Invincibelle Sublime is, well, sublime. Another of breeder Tim Wood’s award-winning hydrangea introductions, Invincibelle Sublime is a standout with big, fluffy mophead flowers that emerge green and stay lime-green all summer long. The florets have a soft pink eye like a bit of candlewick embroidery. This sun-loving variety is hardy to Zone 3. Mature height and width ranges from 3.5 to five feet or slightly more than one metre. An arborescens variety, Sublime’s bountiful mophead flowers float above the plant on super-sturdy stems. Pruning is easy — cut it back in early spring by about one-third its total height.

Hydrangea paniculata Early Evolution is an ultra-compact hydrangea (2 ft by 2 ft or 60 cm tall and wide) that offers a completely different form of flower. Gary Lewis, Phoenix Perennials, a mail-order nursery in Richmond, BC, which lists both the shrub form and tree form of Early Evolution, describes it this way: “It looks like a special and distinctive new addition as the inflorescences are not clearly conical like other (panicle) cultivars but produced in open masses which give a lacy appearance.”

What also makes Early Evolution so unique is that the flowers start lime-white before turning pure white, then a seductive blush as the blooms age, transitioning to dark pink by September. Plant in partial sun to full sun. The hardiness rating is Zone 4a. Why is Early Evolution not classified as a Zone 3 shrub like many other panicle hydrangeas? Most likely because this early flowering hydrangea has not been trialed in Zone 3. I volunteer.

With the number of hydrangea varieties that are available today — even if you were to narrow it down to ones that are hardy to Zone 3b or Zone 4a — it would not be possible to expect to see every single one at your garden centre. But there are always unexpected opportunities in store for hydrangea lovers, especially for those who keep a sharp eye out for varieties that stand out from the crowd. Keep in mind, too, that if you happen to be in the market for a new hydrangea, peak availability at local garden centres is in mid-summer.

For expert tips on pruning your hydrangeas this spring, check out the March edition of Winnipeg Gardener, a free monthly newsletter I write for the Free Press. You can sign up to receive the newsletter at wfp.to/gardener .

colleenizacharias@gmail.com