Heaps of colour

FOR ease, flower power and size in semi-shade, hydrangeas are hard to beat. In late summer, they provide mounds of lush foliage and huge flowerheads that can be a handful or more in size. Many of these blooms go through attractive colour mutations as the seasons change and make superb cut flowers, too.

The 75 species are native to Asia and the Americas, with almost 2,000 cultivars. There are three types to choose from: cone-shaped ‘panicle’ flowerheads (including H. paniculata); rounded ‘mopheads’ (such as H. arborescens); and ‘lacecaps’ (such as H. aspera), which look like doilies.

Magnificent mopheads

The ubiquitous mophead forms of – which are usually pink, but can be blue in certain soil conditions – tend to induce a love them or hate them reaction. For those who loathe them, ‘Annabelle’ and the whiteflowered climbing hydrangeas, which have a more subtle beauty with refreshing green and cream tones.