Essential Things You Must Know About Growing Hydrangeas in St. Louis

If you’re a garden enthusiast, who adores indulgent and elegant shrubs, most likely you’ve already heard of hydrangeas. They appear with soft, large blooms that are either saturated in blue, purple, chartreuse, or pink or are creamy-white – enough for maximizing the beauty quotient of all types of gardens. Once what was only popular in the Victorian era, today can be easily grown in the gardens of the Midwest, thanks to the appearance of new varieties of hydrangeas.

And the best part is that new cultivars are versatile in the shade to sun, have greater cold hardiness, and are tolerant to alkaline soils. It means you can grow these elegant beauties in most locations around your yard and accomplish different gardening objectives.

If reading till now has motivated you to go for hydrangeas, congratulations as you’re going to have bushes that would stand out from all the other ones in your garden.

But here the key question is what type of hydrangea should you grow especially when it has got a huge family tree? According to some sources, there’re more than 70 species of hydrangea. However, when it comes to the U.S., only a small number of species can be commonly grown in our gardens. In this post, we’ve rounded up four major species that you can consider planting whether you live in Mehlville, Oakville, or any other part of the St. Louis region.

Different Types of Hydrangeas You Can Grow In St. Louis

Here, we’re going to discuss the species along with a couple of commonly grown types of each to help you make an informed decision.

Panicle Hydrangea

Perhaps the most commonly found variety in the gardens of St. Louis, Panicle hydrangeas have very high cold tolerance and are hardy to zone 3. In midsummer, you’ll see chartreuse or white flowers that turn tan or pink over time. As these grow wide and tall, it’s important to leave enough space when planting. If you want to grow hydrangea as your garden’s focal point, Panicle hydrangeas would be a great option due to their vase-shaped blooms and big footprints.

Here’re the most preferred cultivars of Panicle hydrangeas.

Limelight

This time-tested classic can be used for a wide range of purposes – from an eye-catching specimen and privacy screens to showy flowering hedges, among others. You’ll see large, football-shaped flowers in gorgeous celadon green that adds a fresh feel to your garden. When matured, the flowers turn red, burgundy, and pink that remain through colder months.

Little Lime

While it’s a miniature form of the popular ‘Limelight’, it adds a solid visual appeal to any garden. During summer, there’ll be lime green flowers that turn rich pink with aging. Being small in size, ‘Little Lime’ can be easily grown in containers, meaning it could be a perfect fit for container gardens and smaller landscapes.

Quick Fire

If you want to grow the earliest bloomer in the Panicle hydrangea family, simply go for ‘Quick Fire’. It blooms around a month earlier than other Panicle hydrangeas and produces pure white flowers that turn pink and in the fall, they become highly dark rosy-pink. The foliage also turns spectacular gold and burgundy at the same time.

Smooth Hydrangea

If you want to light up the shady areas of your garden, Smooth hydrangea is what you need to go for. You’ll get beautiful soft, dollop flowers that sometimes start to droop. It’s hardy to zones 4 to 7 and can easily tolerate hotter climates. Its lime-green flowers turn gorgeous creamy-white and in the fall, they change to a tan hue. The dark green leaves are usually thin and heart-shaped and switch to butter yellow hues during fall. The most common types include:

Incrediball

A stunning and reliable deciduous flowering shrub, the Incrediball hydrangea is hardy and appears with larger flower heads and stronger branches than those of its popular sibling ‘Annabelle’. You’ll see rounded, large lime-green flower clusters that age to gorgeous white. During late summer, they return to pale green and in fall, turn to a tan hue. Due to Incrediball hydrangea’s high attractiveness, you can use it to fulfill a number of gardening objectives – from including it in foundation plantings to using it as a specimen plant.

Annabelle

Annabelle hydrangea is a proven, dependable performer for any type of landscape. Every year it produces large, gorgeous blooms from sturdy, green stems. The combination of rounded, white flowers and dark green foliage is ideal for creating a stunning contrast. The blooms appear as pure white, turn to spectacular sage-green before becoming tan buff finally. As Annabelle hydrangea can be grown in almost any soil and with minimal maintenance, it can be seen all across the country. It’s one of the most preferred ornamental plants that gardeners use to beautify their landscapes in many different ways.

Oakleaf Hydrangea

Native to the southeastern U.S., Oakleaf hydrangea with elegant large leaves is a true delight for every gardener as it offers four seasons of interest. Usually, the leaves turn colors of gorgeous red, yellow, orange, and burgundy during the fall when planted in sunny areas that experience a little shed in the afternoon. In spring, you’ll see oak-shaped leaves, which are followed by flowers in white panicles during summer. In autumn, Oakleaf hydrangea sheds its leaves, which reveals its exfoliating bark in cinnamon color to beautify your winter garden. While areas, where summers are hot to some extent, are ideal for Oakleaf to bloom, it also has enough cold hardiness. One notable benefit of planting this species is that it can easily thrive in dryer areas compared to its cousins.

Here’re the most commonly found varieties of Oakleaf hydrangea.

Snowflake

This deciduous shrub appears with outstanding double-flowered blooms and offers interest almost the entire year. You’ll see big, conical flower heads along with layers of double blossoms. As the florets continue opening on every flower panicle during the entire summer, you’ll enjoy a much longer bloom season than single varieties of Oakleaf hydrangea. It can also be used for different purposes – from combining with other perennials or shrubs to using it as your garden’s focal point.

Sikes Dwarf

Due to its compact size, Sikes Dwarf has emerged as the perfect option for container gardens and smaller gardens. The beautiful broad foliage flaunts conical blooms in ivory color. The flower clusters, which contain sterile florets, become light pink as they mature. It has an irregular rounded shape and demonstrates an open plant habit.

Little Honey

Another compact variety of Oakleaf hydrangea, Little Honey produces cone-shaped flower heads of white blooms, which are small than those of other Oakleaf varieties. In spring, you’ll see golden-yellow foliage that turns chartreuse green during summer and in fall, it becomes red.

Alice

This is one of the largest varieties of Oakleaf hydrangea and produces an abundance of large white flowers. The flowers turn rosy pink as they age before becoming tan finally during late summer. Due to its bigger height and width, it’s an ideal option for larger gardens. As it appears with a unique leaf shape and foliage texture, you can consider planting it in a cluster to appreciate its presence in your garden.

Bigleaf Hydrangea

This is a longtime favorite of homeowners and can be commonly seen in lots of gardens. The extremely showy varieties of Bigleaf appear with intricate pink, mauve, or blue mophead or lace-cap flower heads. The stunning variations in color create mesmerizing effects that are enough for creating a magnificent garden. However, note that late spring frosts may be damaging for some cultivars of Bigleaf hydrangea. Therefore, when planting them, it’d be wise to choose areas that are protected from exposure and harsh winds.

The most preferred cultivars of Bigleaf hydrangea include:

Lemon Daddy

A compact variety of Bigleaf hydrangea, Lemon Daddy appears with yellow to chartreuse foliage. In summer, you’ll see large, rounded clusters of white flowers that turn light blue or pink as they age. Thanks to its compact yet stunning appearance, you can use Lemon Daddy in different ways – from using it as an accent plant or in a foundation planting to creating a hedge.

Endless Summer

While it may appear similar to other Bigleaf hydrangeas, it’s the flowering pattern that makes Endless Summer different. It can flower on new growth and mature wood, which allows it to produce flowers during the entire growing season. In the early summer, Endless Summer shows first blooms and continues to produce them until the first frost, if regularly deadheaded. You’ll see an abundance of large, showy flowers in lavender, blue, or pink that make this variety a perfect garden addition in many ways.

Blushing Bride

As the name implies, this variety appears with stunning semi-double florets in pure white that turn Carolina blue or blush pink as they age. It produces large, round-shaped dollops of blooms, adding a gorgeous touch to your garden. Thanks to its elegant pure white color, Blushing Bride experiences a wide range of uses – from using in wedding bouquets and hydrangea centerpieces to creating a focal point in the garden.

Mini Penny

It’s a remontant mophead variety that produces blue or pink blooms along with small, bright dark green foliage. This repeat bloomer has a compact, tight habit and blooms from spring to summer, which can be extended to fall with the removal of spent flowers. Mini Penny comes with mildew and disease resistance, which makes it a preferred option among gardeners looking for Bigleaf hydrangeas with superior performance.

How to Take Care of Hydrangeas

Now that you’re aware of different varieties of hydrangeas that can be grown in the gardens of the St. Louis area, it’s time to understand how to take care of these beauties in the best possible manner. Here, we’ve jotted down the key lawn care tips associated with hydrangeas.

Water

To maintain the optimum health of hydrangeas, regular watering is a must. They require moist yet well drained soil to grow. Therefore, it’d be better to water to keep the soil moist all the time instead of keeping it too wet. Note that levels of water differ depending on the type of hydrangea and its location. So, in case of doubts, it’s best to consult your local lawn care service provider. However, if you observe that the foliage has started to wilt, the plant will typically need water.

Fertilizer

If you’ve got rich soil, it may not be required to apply fertilizers for hydrangeas. Remember that adding too much fertilizer won’t cause the hydrangea to bloom. Moreover, each variety appears with different needs and different application timing of fertilizers. So, it’s advisable to do a soil test first by contacting a lawn maintenance company to determine the exact requirements.

Pruning

Though hydrangeas require minimal pruning, you shouldn’t apply common shrub trimming methods to them. This is because depending on the type of your hydrangea, the methods may slightly differ. If you want to reduce the plant’s size, it can be done by removing a few older canes. However, you can prune

in the spring if you observe that the branches’ tips have died during cold winters. It’s important to understand that if you follow an incorrect method of pruning, it may cause the hydrangea to produce fewer blooms.It’s important to note that regardless of the type of hydrangea you choose, fertile soil is a must to promote healthy growth. Therefore, be sure to apply common lawn care tips such as flower bed cleanup, lawn mowing, mulching, etc before planting hydrangeas.

You may have also heard that it’s possible to change the color of hydrangeas. Though it somewhat depends on the cultivator, you can change the color by tweaking the soil pH. Alkaline soil will cause the plant to produce pink flowers while acidic soil will cause it to produce blue flowers. To increase the alkalinity of the soil, add hydrated lime to it during spring. To increase the acidity, add aluminum sulfate to it during spring.

Wrapping Up

Hydrangeas are not only resistant to most diseases and pests but are quite hardy and easy to grow as well. And with a huge number of varieties available, you can rest assured of being able to find one according to your preferences. And be sure to explore the varieties we’ve mentioned above so that you can focus on growing the hydrangea instead of finding the right one.