Bouquet Hydrangea

Bouquet hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata) is an ornamental shrub. Its beautiful conical inflorescences white or in shades of pink will decorate plant from summer to autumn.

In order for Bouquet hydrangea to bloom profusely and long you must provide appropiate conditions and prune it correctly. Learn the secrets of bouquet hydrangeas and choose the best varieties for your garden garden.

Bouquet hydrangea – what distinguishes it?

Hydrangea is a type of plant, most often short shrubs. The main decoration is beautiful, long-lasting inflorescences. Undoubtedly, the most commonly grown in gardens is the garden hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla).

Its magnificent, multi-colored, spherical and usually very large inflorescences proudly present themselves on many flower beds, allotments and in parks.

The second most popular is the bouquet hydrangea.
Available in several interesting varieties, differing in size and color of inflorescences.

You should consider the bouquet hydrangea not only because of its wonderful inflorescences. One of its biggest advatages is high frost resistance. That makes it suitable for cultivatiion in colder places.

The most obvious difference between garden and bouquet hydrangea are flowers. Garden hydrangea flowers are spherical or slightly flattened. Bouquet hydrangea flowers have shape of a cone.

Within 5 years of growing Bouquet hydrangea you can expect a bush size 1.8m in height and 1.5m width. Usual target height is 2.5m but there are shurbs that grow up to 4 meters. Fortunately there are dwarf varieties of this shrub that reach 1.5m at most.

Bouquet Hydrangea – varieties

Undoubtedly, the most popular variety is the bouquet hydrangea ‘Grandiflora’ with very large conical white inflorescences. Reaching up to 30 cm in length and 10 cm in width at the base.

There are also varieties of bouquet hydrangeas with a different color of flowers, although in some of them only for a certain time, as the inflorescences bloom, they change color to other than white.

Varieties

1. ‘Brussels Lace’ with openwork, lace inflorescences, composed of beige-yellow fertile flowers and pink-spotted sterile flowers, the petals of which are jagged. It blooms from mid-summer until the first frost, and reaches a height of about 1.5 m
   
2. ‘Everest’ has elegant, dark green leaves, and its large white inflorescences turn pink over time. Inflorescences are large, up to 40 cm long. The plant grows up to 2 m in height and blooms from July to September.
   
3. ‘Limelight’ has greenish-yellow inflorescences which turn creamy white with time. The plant grows up to 3 m in height, and in groups it should be planted every 1.5 m. It blooms from August to October.
   
4. ‘Phantom’ has stiff, erect shoots, reaching 2.5 m in height. White flowers, in large conical inflorescences (up to 30 cm long), slightly pink when they fade. The flowerirng from August to October.
   
5. ‘Pink Diamond’ creates very large conical flower panicles up to 30 cm long and as much as 20 cm wide in their lower part, turning bright pink.
   
6. ‘Polar Bear’ creates branchy shrubs up to 1.5 m in height. It is recommended to plant plants every 1 m for unformed hedges. The leaves are ovate, dark green. Attractive inflorescences up to 30 cm long change color during the growing season from lime green to pink. ‘Polar Bear’ blooms from August to October.
   
7. ‘Unique’ has even larger inflorescences, reaching up to 40 cm in length, and changing color from white to purple as it fades. The shrub reaches 2 to 3 m in height.
   
8. ‘Pinky Winky’ has pink inflorescences, and in autumn its shoots also change their color to this color. This type of bouquet hydrangea blooms for quite a long time, because flowering begins in July and ends only in October. It grows up to 1.5 m in height.
   
9. ‘Tardiva’ has rough green leaves and creamy white inflorescences. Blooms from August to October. Reaches up to 3 m in height.
   
10. ‘Vanille Fraise’ growing upright, reaching up to 2m in height. The flowers are initially creamy white, then pink, and finally turn red. It blooms from August to October.

Anything smaller ?

The above-mentioned varieties of bouquet hydrangea are plants with a height of 1.5 to even 3 m in height. For owners of small gardens, choose the dwarf variety of the bouquet hydrangea ‘Dart’s Little Dot’, which is only 1 m high.

Bouquet Hydrangea cultivation

Its shoots are thin but stiff, and the leaves are quite small. Flowers gather in gable, almost spherical, white inflorescences that bloom from August to October. If you are planting several plants in a group, place 2-3 seedlings per 1 m².

Place

Bouquet Hydrangea requires wind free place in shade – however it can grow in sun as well. Best place for it would be next to walls, under high trees and close to other bushes. Hydrangea looks great on it’s own so it can grow alone.

Soil

Soil for hydrangea should be fertile, moist, slightly acidic to acidic. If soil pH is too high hydrangea leaves start to turn yellow.

Fertilization

For the fertilization you can use well-fermented compost or manure as well as multi-component mineral fertilizer, but low in calcium.

You can buy special-purpose fertilizers for hydrangeas in garden stores. The fertilization of hydrangeas begins in spring and ends at the end of July so that the plant has time to go into winter dormancy.

Wintering

Bouquet hydrangea is frost-resistant and does not require covering for the winter. Only before the onset of frost, it is worth making a mound of bark, sawdust or humus soil at the root of the shoots (especially in the case of recently planted young plants).

Pruning

Unlike the garden hydrangea that blooms on last year’s shoots, the bouquet hydrangea blooms on this year’s shoots. For this reason, the cutting of hydrangeas of this species looks completely different. It should be done annually. Pruning of the bouquet hydrangea must be done in early spring, at the end of March or at the beginning of April.

Young plants are trimmed a bit differently than older shrubs. If you plant a new bouquet hydrangea in spring, all its shoots should be cut short immediately after planting.

If you bought flowering plants and planted them in summer or fall, prune their shoots next spring. Shorten the thicker and more plump shoots above the second pair of buds, and the thinner, slender and overlapping ones should be completely cut out (there will be no pretty flowers from them).

The first cut of the young bouquet hydrangea made in this way will contribute to its branching and the formation of strong shoots, which will then bloom nicely.

In the case of older plants, the shoots of the should be cut above the 4 – 5th bud. From the remaining buds, the plant will create new shoots that will crown the inflorescences.

Only thick shoots should remain on the bush. The very thin ones must be cut out completely. They will also grow thin new shoots topped with small inflorescences.

How and when to plant hydrangeas?