365 Urban Species. #342: Oakleaf Hydrangea

[urbpan]

Photos by urbpan. Location: Olmsted Park.

Urban species #342: Oakleaf hydrangea Hydrangea quercifolia

Hydrangeas are popular flowering shrubs for front yards and city parks. Their clumps of flowers, sometimes cultivated in garish pinks and blues, provide accents in spring and summer. I confess to not quite grasping the appeal of this particular group of ornamentals, as they sometimes look like artificial plants to me, and their bodacious pom-poms of blossoms seem, well, like they're trying too hard. The oakleaf hydrangea, on the other hand, can be a handsome shrub, and looks quite nice in the winter. While most other shrubs and trees have long since dropped their leaves, the large, almost leathery foliage of this hydrangea remains, wine red against the wintering background. Oakleaf hydrangea is native to southeastern United States, but can be grown in much cooler climates.


I invite hydrangea fans to correct my ignorance and explain the popularity of this Genus of ornamental shrubs.





The dried flowers and fruit of oakleaf hydrangea.

Comments

[ndozo.livejournal.com]

You call it garish, I call it vivid. A really good blue hydrangea is so pretty and that deep cool blue is so unusual, that to me it's a lovely plant. I wish the deer would stop eating them.

[bezigebij.livejournal.com]

Handsome is the right word.

To me the main appeal of Hydrangeas is the dried flower heads. Planted in groups they can gorgeous, though I too tend to opt for the white flowering varieties.

I don't know, the following picture of Hydrangea macrophylla planted en masse has an appeal in my opinion:

[calypso72]

We have an enormous oak leaf Hydrangea next to our front door. I keep meaning to photograph it, but can never decide when my favorite time is to take a picture! It has the most delicate (but huge) white flowers, though it didn't get those nice red leaf colors that urbpan got on his specimen in the post.

[bezigebij.livejournal.com]

I wonder if the fall color is better in colder climates...

My vote would be to photograph it at different times. I love the flowers right before they really open. And the flakey bark. And unfurling (super tomentose) leaves. And, as mentioned above, dried flower heads. All good. :)

Somehow I find the oakleaf hydrangea really appropriate in your "woodsy" garden.

Oakleaf Hydrangea bush

[(Anonymous)]

This is the first year my oakleaf has bloomed, its really
a spectacular site on the side of the yard along with
the 5ft beebalm, misc ornamental grasses, roses, blackeyed susans, Kousa Dogwood along with a few other Hydrangea varities, (limelight and
tardia)
to name a few. Living in southern NH we have some really
cold, snowy winters, late springs that can be cool but
summer time gets warm and this year the japanese beetles
just went crazy and I could not keep them off my oakleaf
hydrangea blooms, I found dozens all inside eating and
munching away, the blooms now are mostly dirty creme with
all brown inside, they did a job, any suggestions seeing
this is an early bloomer, comes out the same time as
the beetles.

Re: Oakleaf Hydrangea bush

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

The usual controls for Japanese beetles are treating the soil for the larvae (you would have had to do this some time ago) and hand-picking the adults. I think they make water traps for them, too.