Oakleaf Hydrangea

Hydrangea season starts now! While it is a bit early to see the iconic blue mop-heads (Hydrangea macrophylla) and too soon to see the other common landscape hydrangea, Hydrangea paniculata, also called "sun hydrangea" or panicled hydrangea, now is the time to savor one of our greatest native assets, the oakleaf hydrangea (or Hydrangea quercifolia)

How could you not be drawn to this amazing plant? Not only does it possess huge clustered flowers, but it also has exfoliating bark, big bold leaves, and reliable fall color! This shrub looks great in all seasons!

Oakleaf is native to the deciduous woodlands of the southeast. It seems most plentiful on the moist slopes in the region centered around NW Georgia, SE Tennessee, and northeast Alabama; although I also find it sporadically here in middle Ga. Just last year I saw a huge natural population at Cloudland Canyon in far NW Georgia.

When my folks bought their house back in the early 2000s, they also purchased an old garden full of oakleaf hydrangea. One specimen is rather robust, around 10 ft., though somewhat short, around 5 ft. tall. They can get much taller... I've seen specimens up 15ft.! One of the most striking aspects of this plant is its exfoliating cinnamon-colored bark. They can be limbed up like trees in order to showcase this feature. Oakleaf H., as its name suggests, exhibits big leaves likened to oversized oak leaves, perhaps of the red oak persuasion.

But most people grow this hydrangea because of its bloom. Similar to the panicled hydrangea, oakleaf produces cone-like flowers that evolve from green to white to brownish pink. The fragrance of the fresh flower is pungent and musky, not my favorite, and is visited by a plethora of flies and smallish wasp-like insects. As a side note, many of our most beloved southeastern natives are pollinated by gnats and flies!

Increasingly there are numerous cultivars/ selections to choose from, and many of these selections were found in the wild by observant plant explorers. 'Harmony' is notable because it produces large, dense double-flowered clusters that suggest snowcones. When happy, it can grow into a large shrub, but the heavy flower clusters often droop, especially after rains. My 3-year-old specimen suddenly died last year, and I'm not sure why. I do think many cultivars are susceptible to some kind of root rot. If you can't find 'Harmony', I'd suggest 'Snowflake' because it also produces dense double-flowered inflorescences.

A similarly dense flowered form that may exhibit more sturdy stems is 'Turkey Heaven'. Though I don't have direct experience growing this selection, I've heard from far more experienced gardeners about its merits. Interestingly, the name refers to Turkey Heaven Mountain in Cleburne County, AL where this selection was first discovered. This photo was taken by Ozzie Johnson of Atlanta, Ga.

For a more compact form, I'd suggest the cutely named 'Little Honey'. With its slower growth rate and chartreuse yellowish-green leaves, 'Little Honey' looks great in the landscape all throughout the growing season. And the autumn foliage is an equally vibrant red-orange. While these plants grow naturally in deciduous shade, they seem to do quite fine in full-sun. Though the foliage may look a bit sunburned and tattered come September. I have noticed a correlation, as in many species, between the amount of sun and fall color. Plants grown in more sun seem to develop more vibrant autumnal hues.

There are some newish cultivars like, 'Sike's Dwarf', and 'Munchkin' that are truly dwarf, but I've not personally grown them. 'Ruby Slippers' is becoming quite popular, though I must admit I'm not a huge fan. Its claim to fame are the flowers that rapidly fade to a rich pink. But I find that it always looks somewhat washed out and faded. Perhaps I've not seen it at its zenith!