Adventures with Hydrangeas

 This year has been a lesson in the habits of hydrangeas, and I have found that the shadier the better. 

All of my hydrangea plants are of the macrophylla type - the traditional mophead reminiscent of Victorian villas and seaside views. I have several old postcards of Devon and Cornwall in which the pink mopheads are conspicuous - so obviously they can cope with a seaside location.   But what they really want is somewhere damp and sheltered.

I have a front and a back garden. The back is overshadowed by huge trees and the  very end of the garden is in shade for most of the day. But the plus side of this is that it hardly ever gets affected by frost. The front however is open and faces east and apparently we are the highest point until you get to somewhere in Germany - so all of that lovely North Sea wind hurls itself across Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire until it gets to rattle my front door. And there is no shelter from the frost or the morning sun - a lethal mixture when these two arrive within hours of each other. 

Here is how the established hydrangea on the front looks at the moment - never has it been so sad. 

The yellowed leaves are a result of the combination of frost and sun and then a very dry spell.

But on the back it is a different story. The plant at the end of the garden in more or less permanent shade, in an area where the water sits and the fallen leaves make an annual rich mulch, thrives.  It is even beginning to flower:


What could normally be a problematic area is enhanced by this beauty, which also delivers the deepest pink mopheads.

Hydrangeas are also very obliging in pots. This is my original plant, which has spent at least a decade in this pot with never a complaint. It is by the house so gets its shade and protection there. As long as I make sure it gets a daily drink (not difficult with it being next to the house- I just throw my used tea leaves onto it) it is very happy.


All of my other plants have been grown from cuttings from this beast. It is so easy to do, just snip a bit off in late summer, just under a leaf node, and stick it in a plant pot. Keep it damp. Here's my latest cutting, which is in the shady border against the south fence. Even the Forget Me Nots clambering all over it haven't held it back. 


So if you have any troublesome shaded areas I recommend you embrace a mophead. 






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