Choose the Top Hydrangeas for Your Garden

Find out which hydrangeas are the best bets for your yard

A Hydrangea for Sun

While most hydrangeas do best in shade, varieties of Hydrangea paniculata prefer sunny spots. Most selections have large clusters of white flowers in summer. The showy blooms fade to shades of pink or red before drying to beige. In many areas, they dry right on the plant in fall and stay looking good through most of the winter.

Growing it

While Hydrangea paniculata likes full sun, it also does well in part shade. It prefers moist, well-drained soil rich in organic matter, so it's helpful to amend your soil with compost, peat moss, or other similar materials before you plant it. Hydrangea paniculata is one of the hardiest varieties; it thrives in Zones 4-8.

Pruning it

Because this hydrangea blooms on current year's growth, the best time to give it a trim is winter or early spring.

Standout Varieties

Hydrangea paniculata 'Grandiflora' is sometimes called peegee hydrangea. It's a large shrub or small tree to 20 feet tall.

Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight' bears light lime-green flowers from midsummer to fall. It grows 8 feet tall.

Continued on page 2: Cold-Climate Hydrangea

SMartino61 wrote:

We have several Endless Summer Hydrangeas that only have blooms on the lower part of the plant. They only have about three blossoms but they all are on the bottom of the plant. We live in Western KY and have them planted in part shade, part sun. What could be wrong?

7/19/2011 01:22:09 PM Report Abuse

whoopzdaisy wrote:

I think that growing hydrangeas in large containers can be done but it depends on the type of hydrangea. The oakleaf one grows pretty tall and wide and therefore needs a lot of room. I don't trim my 2 year old oakleaf or endless summer just yet. I give it plenty of room because of the deep roots.

4/26/2011 09:23:42 AM Report Abuse

hydrangeas don't hold up well in extreme heat of the summer. Keep the soil moist and water in the early evening when that happens.