When summer heats up across our country, we all need some garden heroes that thrive and add fresh life.
Summer-blooming paniculata hydrangeas take on this role with panache.
One of my favourites is Proven Winners’ lime green H.p. ‘Limelight’ (zone 4) with its huge, cone-shaped blooms that turn from lime to cream to pink as they open and mature.
An equally beautiful, more compact form, called ‘Little Lime’ (zone 3), is about one-third the size of ‘Limelight’ (approximately 1m tall and wide) and has changing coloration, similar sized blooms and tolerates some shade as well as sun.
The newest addition to the Lime series is ‘Little Lime Punch’. Growing to 3’-5’ it is a nice garden size, but the difference is that the aging blooms turn a beautiful blend of pink, green, white and red.
For small space gardens, it is a ‘must have’.
A dwarf shrub, ‘Little Quick Fire’ is one of the first to bloom, and it is drought tolerant and very versatile. Its flowers start off white, then transition to pink and red. ‘Quick Fire Fab’, a more recent introduction, has rather fast developing red colour which works its way up the blossom leaving a white and lime tip. ‘Tiny Quick Fire’ is a smaller version, and blooms far earlier.
Again, from Proven Winners comes two improvements over the reliable workhorse, Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’: the ‘Incrediball’ and the ‘Invincibelle’ varieties. ‘Incrediball’ has exceptionally large, round heads that open a cool lime green then slowly turn to a rich creamy white. It has a great support system of strong stems. ‘Invincibelle Spirit II’ is a beautiful reblooming shrub that is covered in flowers from early summer to late fall. Its strong stems support the blooms upright as they start off white and turn to pink then red. Other great ‘Invincibelles’ are ‘Ruby’, ‘Mini Mauvette’ and ‘Wee White’.
With these varieties, Proven Winners has taken the best of ‘Annabelle’ and added so much more.
‘Bobo’, a compact hydrangea that is hardy to zone 3, is loaded with beautiful white flowers that turn pink on strong, upright stems. ‘Bobo’ is a gem for today’s small space gardens and time-pressed gardeners. Bailey Nurseries in the US have introduced another great, smaller variety called ‘Little Hottie’, which has smaller, more cone-shaped blooms with an attractive lime tip.
Another significant standout in today’s gardens is the shade and heat tolerant hydrangea which can be a perfect accent in any garden. Blooming both in summer and fall, H.p. ‘Fire and Ice’ (zone 3) is truly unique. It’s an early bloomer, displaying long, airy, triangular flowers that open creamy white and later turn a deep rich red. Its unusual green foliage also shades to red in hot summer sun, creating a brilliant display. It’s a keeper.
Hydrangea paniculata ‘Zinfin Doll’ has football-shaped blooms that emerge pure white, then blush to pink and age to dark pink-red. This colour transition moves from the bottom up, creating an ice cream sundae look. Long blooming and cold tolerant, ‘Zinfin Doll’ is perfect for beginners.
Pee Gee hydrangea First Editions ‘Vanilla Strawberry’ (zone 4) is a remarkable introduction from France. It has enormous flower panicles in a richly coloured blend of vanilla and strawberry on strong red stems. As with most Pee Gee hydrangeas, the flowers emerge creamy white in mid-summer then turn to pink and finally a very striking strawberry red. As the new blooms emerge, a multi-coloured effect is created that lasts for three to four weeks. The blooms are also quite suitable for using as fresh cuts or for drying. Growing a little taller (2.1m x1.2m), it is sure to impress any garden connoisseur.
We always struggle a bit during hot summers to have hardy, easy-care blooms in our gardens. These varieties of hydrangeas will go a long way to add richness and charm to a summer garden.
Just as a reminder, our traditional mop head hydrangeas need to be pruned as soon as possible, especially if they have grown too large, to ensure a strong bud set for next year!
