All about the newest and most beautiful varieties of hydrangeas: video interview

General information

Nature has about 80 species of beautiful hydrangea. Its flowers are shaped like umbrellas. Together with each other they form beautiful flower balls. The colors are very different - white, red, blue, yellow, purple. The plant requires some care. Hydrangea cannot be called an unpretentious flower. But all the difficulties pale next to her beauty.

This is interesting:

In Japanese, the name of the plant means purple sun.

Hydrangea is grown in open ground. Small species of hydrangea usually grow in gardens.

Features of cultivation

Below are the basic rules for planting and caring for hydrangea:

1. Since the color of large-leaved hydrangea flowers depends not on the varietal, but on the level of soil acidity, experts recommend selecting the soil pH for each plant separately.
2. Watering the flower should be regular and plentiful.
3. Requires direct sunlight with little shade.
4. The plant requires systematic pruning.
5. For the winter, hydrangea needs to be covered.

Plant species

In this article we will look at the most popular types of hydrangea that we prefer to grow in our gardens:

1. Paniculata - flowers look like a broom. The size of the bush varies. The flowers exude a delicate and pleasant aroma. Flowering for a long time. This species tolerates frost well. Varieties: Grandiflora, Vanilla Fries, Pinky Winky, Vanilla Strawberry, Darts Little Dot.
2. Large-leaved - a tall plant, up to 200 centimeters in length, not resistant to frost. Flowers are white, pink, purple. This type of plant loves sun and warmth. Varieties: Expression, Red Sensation, Endless Summer, Bodensee.
3. Tree-like - the plant does not require special care and tolerates frost well. The plant is tall, up to 250 centimeters. Loves moist soil and shade. Varieties: Annabelle, Hayes Starburst, Sterilis, Bella Anna, Invincibelle Spirit.

Hydrangea varieties for growing in open ground

Tree hydrangea is a shrub that sheds its leaves in autumn, growing up to one and a half meters in height, and in its homeland - up to three meters. The shrub produces fast-growing straight shoots with large dark green leaves covered with whitish fluff on the underside. It blooms in spherical inflorescences about 20 cm in diameter. Based on this type of hydrangea, breeders have developed many winter-hardy varieties that differ in flowering time, color of inflorescences and their shape.

The most common of them are:

1. Annabelle blooms from early summer to September with white inflorescences. The bush is up to one and a half meters high, with a girth of about three. Sheds leaves in autumn without changing color.
2. Annabelle Pink is a variety of Annabelle with pink inflorescences.
3. Annabelle Strong is a variety of Annabelle that has strong shoots.
4. Sterilis - got its name because of infertility. This variety blooms long and luxuriantly, changing the color of the inflorescences from pale green to white during the flowering process.
5. Hayes Starburst - lush double inflorescences, blooms before frost.
6. Pink Percussion - blooms in small inflorescences of pinkish shades.

Care

First you need to decide on the place of cultivation. The soil must have an acidic environment. Hydrangea grows well, both in bright light and in the shade. But it's best to choose something in between.

Hydrangea loves moisture. Therefore, it is necessary to water the plant on time and abundantly. The water should be warm. You can settle the water or use rainwater. Make sure the soil dries out. In hot weather, watering is required more often. Hydrangea should be watered at least twice a week. One bush requires up to 5 buckets of water.

Feeding is required at the beginning of flowering, when the buds ripen. It is recommended to buy ready-made mixtures to fertilize the plant. They will definitely suit hydrangeas and save your time. During dormancy, feeding is also necessary, but not often.

Be sure to loosen the soil. This allows air to circulate and water not to stagnate. Pruning is carried out in the spring, before the buds appear. Young bushes should not be pruned.

It is important to know: during the winter, hydrangea absorbs all the nutrients from the leaves.

You can also prune the plant in the fall, when the amount of sap in the stems becomes less.

Unnecessary and unsightly branches are cut off with sharp scissors or pruning shears and disposed of.

Basic rules for caring for hydrangea

Caring for hydrangea comes down primarily to proper watering, timely feeding, pruning and loosening. If you do everything correctly, the bushes will be lush and the inflorescences will be large and bright.

Watering

Hydrangea is a moisture-loving plant that requires frequent watering. It should be plentiful, 15 - 20 liters for each adult bush. In hot weather, this should be done once a week. In hot and dry summers, watering can be increased to twice a week. In this case, you need to focus on the condition of the soil, taking into account how quickly it absorbs moisture and dries out.

For irrigation, it is best to use settled soft water at room temperature. From time to time you need to add a little potassium permanganate to it, which will prevent the appearance of rot. Hydrangea should be watered in the morning or evening, when it is not too hot.

Top dressing

For good development and lush flowering, hydrangea needs to be fed. Both organic and mineral fertilizers are suitable for this. Their use is especially important during periods of intensive growth. You can purchase ready-made fertilizers that are rich in magnesium and iron. A good composition is provided by feeding in the form of a solution of bird droppings with water in a ratio of 1:10 in combination with a mineral composition of 20 g of superphosphate, 10 g of nitrate and 10 g of urea. You can use any slurry as a fertilizer, just be careful, otherwise the buds will be too large, which can cause fragile branches to break.

Hydrangea needs to be fertilized not only during planting, but periodically as it grows. The first such feeding should be carried out at the end of May. After two weeks it should be repeated. You can fertilize flowers throughout the summer, but in August it is advisable to stop fertilizing so that the shoots can become lignified by winter.

Mulching

Thanks to mulching the tree trunk circle, the hydrangea roots will be protected from overheating and the rapid growth of weeds. You must first make an organic mulch consisting of wood chips or peat. It should be scattered in an even layer around the bush. This will help make the soil more acidic, which is what hydrangeas need. This mulch will gradually become part of the soil.

It is best to apply mulch under bushes in late spring, when the soil is well warmed up. It is also possible to mulch in late autumn, when freezing temperatures set in. Periodically, shrubs need to be loosened so that the soil is more permeable to moisture.

Trimming

Pruning is done on plants that have reached the age of 3–4 years. This should be done in early spring - before sap flow and buds begin to bloom. If the procedure is carried out too early, the cut cuttings will be unsuitable for further rooting, and if it is too late, the plant may die. This is why it is important to prune when the buds just begin to swell.

When pruning adult plants, cut off 3/4 of the height of each shoot with pruning shears. In this case, there should be 2–3 pairs of buds left on them. Old bushes can be renewed at the root. Everything will depend on the condition of the bush or tree. You also need to cut off old or frozen shoots. During pruning, you can form a beautiful small tree with a certain shape. In the first year of hydrangea growth, its flowers should be removed, because... this will promote more abundant flowering next year.

Preparing hydrangea for winter

Hydrangea is a heat-loving plant, so it needs to be protected in the winter season. Young shoots and insufficiently winter-hardy varieties need special protection. If the bush is very young, you can simply cover it on top with earth, fallen leaves or sawdust. Older plants must be bent to the ground and covered with roofing felt or lutrasil. To prevent the wind from blowing it away, you need to press down the covering material with bricks.

Mature bushes require more careful shelter. You have to try not to break them. The bush should be tied and then covered with spunbond or lutrasil, after which a frame can be built around it from a metal mesh or other available materials. It should be at a distance of about 20-25 cm from the bush. The free space must be filled with dry leaves. Such an insulated frame will protect the hydrangea well even in severe frosts. You can remove it in the spring, when there is a stable above-zero temperature.

After flowering

With the onset of cold weather, the plant needs warm shelter. Of course, it all depends on your region and possible frosts in winter. If the climate is predictable and warm enough, special insulation will not be required. But if winters in your region are cold and unpredictable, you should prepare thoroughly. If you have a type of hydrangea that grows in pots, then bring the flowers indoors for the winter. And they take care of them as usual.

In the case when hydrangea grows in open ground, you will have to work hard. Dried flowers are torn off, the roots of the plant are covered with earth and hills are created. Small bushes are covered with earth. Tall plants are carefully tilted to the ground and covered (for example, with roofing felt). The shelter is secured with stones in case of strong winds. Also, a dome-shaped structure is made around the bushes using wire. The entire space should be filled with dry leaves.

You may have frost-resistant hydrangea varieties. In this case, special insulation is not required. These species tolerate low temperatures well.

Popular types of hydrangea

Before planting hydrangea, you need to decide on the choice of the appropriate species. Each of them has its own growing characteristics, which must be taken into account when planting and caring for. The most popular among gardeners are: large-leaved hydrangea, paniculata hydrangea, petiolate hydrangea, tree hydrangea.

Large leaf hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla)

Will delight with flowering in July-August. This hydrangea has bright, dense foliage. The current year's shoots look grassy, ​​which is why the plant has low cold resistance. The flowers have an umbrella shape. They can have different colors depending on the variety, the intensity of which depends on the acidity of the soil. The more acidic it is, the brighter the hydrangea will be. The height of the bush reaches up to 2 m.

Hydrangea paniculata

It blooms from mid-summer until the onset of cold weather. Inflorescences of this type have a pyramidal shape. They can reach a length of up to 30 cm. Paniculata hydrangea grows as a shrub, which can reach a height of 5 m, or as a small tree up to 10 m. This species is considered more frost-resistant and unpretentious.

Hydrangea petiolaris

It is a shrubby vine. It will require additional support, to which it will be attached with air suction cups. It grows up to 25 m in length. This is a suitable species for planting near arches and arbors. The inflorescences have a corymbose shape and are up to 25 cm in size.

Tree hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens)

It grows up to 3 meters in height. The flowers are predominantly white or cream in color. There are several varieties of this species, differing in different colors. In winter, the plant may freeze, so it must be carefully wrapped. In April, the bushes need to be heavily pruned. The flowers grow in large fluffy inflorescences.

Ground cover hydrangea (Hydrangea heteromalla)

It is also called Bretschneider hydrangea. This species is considered frost-resistant and unpretentious. The bush reaches 2 - 3 m in height. The inflorescences here are corymbose. At first they are white, and at the end of flowering they turn pink. This hydrangea blooms in mid-summer.

Recommendations for planting and caring for hydrangea in the garden - video

Growing rules

An interesting fact is that the color of the plant depends on the soil environment. In an acidic environment the flowers are blue or blue. If the soil is alkaline, then the color is burgundy, and in neutral soil it is beige. Experienced gardeners use different types of soil in one bed and end up with beautiful, colorful hydrangea bushes.

The simplest but most time-consuming method of propagating hydrangea is by seed. Seeds are planted in the fall. It is necessary to select a large container with nutrient soil. Next, the seeds are placed on the surface and lightly sprinkled with earth. The soil should be moistened and the container covered with film to create greenhouse conditions. As soon as the seeds hatch and the first shoots appear, they are transplanted into separate small containers. When the seedlings become stronger, replanting is carried out again, but larger pots are used. In spring and summer, young plants can be taken outside in warm weather and brought back into the house in the evening. Only after 2 years can hydrangea be planted in open ground. In winter, it is better to keep young plants in a cool and bright room.

Bushes are planted in the spring. First, a good place for the plants is selected. It should be voluminous in area and illuminated. It is better if no trees or bushes grow nearby. It is necessary to dig a hole twice the size of the plant's root system. Then fertilizers are poured into the prepared area and the soil is moistened. The bushes along with the soil are pulled out of the pot, the soil is removed, and the roots are straightened. The bushes are planted in prepared holes and covered with soil.

Hydrangea propagation

Hydrangea is propagated in several ways:

Preparing the planting hole

The photo shows the root system of an adult hydrangea.
In hydrangea, the root system is located horizontally and the roots almost do not grow deep. Therefore, there is no need to make a deep hole for planting it. The hole should be wide, but not deep. The width and depth of the hole depends on the size of the plant and root system:

1. Adjust the depth taking into account that a nutritious soil mixture will be poured into the bottom of the hole. Its layer for adult plants should be about 10-15 cm, and for small ones - 5-8 cm. Just measure the height of the root system, add to it the height of the nutrient mixture layer and a few more centimeters to cover the roots from above with soil.
2. The width of the hole should be such that it accommodates the straightened roots plus a few more centimeters.

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What to put in the hole when planting hydrangeas

After the hole for planting hydrangea has been dug, you need to prepare nutritious soil.

The nutrient mixture is prepared based on the type of soil on your site (see above). If the soil is good, you can simply mix garden soil from the pit with peat (1:1). Sprinkle the resulting mixture in a small layer onto the bottom of the hole and add a tablespoon of Nitroammophoska.

Attention! Hydrangea does not like manure and you should not add ash to the hole when planting it, which makes the soil alkaline. And everyone knows that hydrangea loves acidic soil.

Are there indoor hydrangeas?

Growing most garden crops as a houseplant is problematic. To do this, they need to be small, or the owners know how to restrain their growth. They also slowly grew green mass (except for vines), and did not have a very deep and voluminous root system.

Hydrangea only partially meets these requirements. But some varieties of Hydrangea Largeleaf can actually be planted in containers and grown as an indoor flower.

Other indoor species are more affected. Even if they are properly cared for, they usually die during the dormant period and rarely survive until spring.

The plant, which for unknown reasons is called Hydrangea Jasmine, is actually Gardenia. It is united with hydrangea by belonging to the Dicotyledonous class. In botany, such cultures are not even considered related.

Growing from seeds

The best time for this is autumn. Recommended soil composition: peat and leaf soil with sand in a ratio of 2 to 4 to 1. Planted seeds require covering with glass or film. It is necessary to ventilate the container a couple of times a day.

The ideal temperature is 14 - 20°C. Young plants need to be pricked twice: the first time as soon as the cotyledon lobes begin to develop, the second time in March. After the last picking, young flowers must begin to be hardened off.