June Blooms in my Georgia Garden: Oakleaf Hydrangea

This time of year our garden is always bursting with blooms, but this year has been a little different. Due to a very mild winter, everything bloomed much earlier than usual. Plants that normally cover themselves with blooms in June began blooming in May. Oakleaf Hydrangeas are particularly beautiful this year. I believe they all have a bloom cluster at the end of each and every stem.

I have never seen the species Hydrangea quercifolia in my garden so beautiful as they are now. I dug these from my brother's property in Beulah, Alabama.

Snowflake Hydrangea is gorgeous with its pure white double bloom clusters. This plant always reminds me of my good friend Laura who was with me when I purchased it. Laura suffered from cancer that was overtaking her body. Time spent with her was precious. We spent the day touring Wilkerson Mill Gardens in the little town of Chattahoochee Mills, Georgia. The kids loved it, as did we. We bought several plants that day, which have thrived in our garden. So if you get a chance to see the garden and nursery there, I highly recommend it.

Hydrangea quercifolia 'Alice' has sprawled all over the place and will have to be cut back for rejuvenation. However, her blooms are large and fragrant. The fragrance was a surprise to me, but now I understand why the bees love Alice Hydrangea so much.

May Blooms in my Georgia Garden: Oakleaf Hydrangea

Oakleaf Hydrangea
 in Late Spring at Callaway Gardens

I know I've written this many times, but the Oakleaf Hydrangea is my very favorite hydrangea, for several reasons. Hydrangea quercifolia, commonly called the Oakleaf Hydrangea, is beautiful all the time.  

In summer, large blooms appear that attract much attention. The panicles of white blooms appear in May. These creamy white blooms can be quite large, depending on the cultivar. Blooms on 'Alice' can be up to 12 inches long, which makes for a spectacular display.

Late Summer Blooms
at LaGrange College

By late summer the white blooms change to a rosey purplish pink, hanging on into fall. 

In fall, the leaves turn a rich mahogany red, contrasting beautifully with the then dried rosy brown flower stalks used by many in floral arrangements. 

Oakleaf Hydrangea Fall Foliage
 at Shady Gardens Nursery

In winter, the branches exhibit lovely cinnamon colored exfoliating bark, and the large flower buds already forming are attractive. In spring, the new leaves are a reddish purple. So you see, Oakleaf Hydrangea is truly beatiful in every season!

Hydrangea quercifolia is much easier to grow than other hydrangeas. The fact that it is native to the southeastern United States is probably the reason for that. It’s accustomed to our summer droughts, making it more drought-tolerant than other hydrangea. It isn’t picky about soil. And Oakleaf Hydrangea can take more sun than most other hydrangeas.

Oakleaf hydrangea is one of our most beautiful American native shrubs, and should be in every garden.

May Blooms in My Georgia Garden: Oakleaf Hydrangea

Hydrangea quercifolia

I've always said that my favorite hydrangea is our native Oakleaf Hydrangea, Hydrangea quercifolia. Honestly, this shrub is beautiful in every season! In Spring, new leaves emerge that are thick, rich green, and shaped like an oak leaf. Soon thereafter, bloom buds begin to develop, and you can tell early on which stems will have a bloom. Bloom size varies from plant to plant, but each bloom is a panicle shaped cluster of smaller flowers, all creamy white. With the species, this panicle can be smallish when compared to some of the named cultivars, but it is very beautiful. Pollinators just love it.

Hydrangea quercifolia 'Snowflake'

There are a number of named selections, of which I have only a few. The hardest one for me to find was Hydrangea quercifolia 'Snowflake.' Large panicles of blossoms have one flower on top of another, giving it the appearance of double blooms. This plant took a little longer to establish and bloom for me, because it receives no supplemental water other than the little bit of rain we get. This year we were blessed with plenty of rain, so my Snowflake Hydrangea is sporting beautiful fluffy blossom clusters like the one in the photo.

Hydrangea quercifolia 'Alice'

The most spectacular of these Oakleaf Hydrangeas has to be the cultivar known as 'Alice.' Blooms on the Alice Oakleaf Hydrangea are gigantic. These voluptuous blooms spikes can be 12 inches long or more. I'd have to say this one is my most favorite of all. If I had to come up with a disadvantage of this hydrangea, it would be that the blooms are so heavy that they weigh down the branch. Some of the branches with the largest blooms are laying along the ground due to the weight of the flower spikes. I should prop them up with something.

As they dry, the creamy white blooms age to a rosy shade of pink, unless your summer heat and lack of rainfall cause them to turn a crispy brown instead. Fall foliage is spectacular on all the Oakleaf Hydrangeas. With onset of cold weather, the large leaves change to a deep burgundy color, quite visible from a distance. And in winter, after the leaves fall, you'll notice the exfoliating cinnamon colored bark.

Oakleaf Hydrangea Blooms Age to a Rose Pink

Oakleaf Hydrangea is my favorite hydrangea, not only for its beauty but perhaps more importantly for its ease of growing. Mophead Hydrangeas are quite fussy. "Oh, it's too hot!", "Oh, I'm so thirsty!", "Oh, my soil is not right!" they seem to be saying to me whenever I glance in their direction. And if I don't give in to their demands, they will punish me, by first wilting, then drying up. Or they won't bloom. And sometimes they even just up and die on me.

Not so, with the Oakleaf Hydrangea. They don't mind our dry clay soil. They don't complain when it doesn't rain. Once established, Oakleaf Hydrangeas are very drought tolerant. And although they naturally occur in the woods, Oakleaf Hydrangeas will grow quite happily in full sun. My Alice gets the worst--full sun in the afternoon during the hottest part of the day. Yes, the Oakleaf Hydrangea is truly beautiful in every season. My gardens are mostly shady, so I have all kinds of hydrangeas, but my most favorite of all is definitely the Oakleaf Hydrangea.

Alabama State Wildflower: Oakleaf Hydrangea

Hydrangea quercifolia, Oakleaf Hydrangea

I am glad to learn that my favorite native shrub, the Oakleaf Hydrangea, is the State Wildflower of Alabama. Since I was raised in Alabama and we now live in Georgia very close to the Alabama state line, I am naturally drawn to plants native to Alabama.

The Oakleaf Hydrangea is very easy to grow, tolerating a wide variety of conditions. This deciduous shrub is native to the southeastern United States.

Hydrangea quercifolia gets its common name of Oakleaf Hydrangea from the large leaves shaped like those of our mighty oak tree. Deciduous foliage turns red in autumn and later falls from the plant but can hang on for quite a while when grown in shade during a mild winter. Once foliage falls from the plant, cinnamon colored exfoliating bark adds to its beauty.

Large blooms appearing in panicles in May and June last all season. Blooms begin white in color but change gradually to a rosey pink or purple and finally age to a soft brown persisting into the winter. Blooms are also quite long lasting as a cut flower.

The Oakleaf Hydrangea will grow large and can reach a size of about 8 feet tall and just as wide. 

This deciduous shrub is not picky about soil, even tolerating heavy clay, but grows best in well-drained soil with moderate moisture. The Oakleaf Hydrangea is very drought tolerant once established and was the only hydrangea that bloomed in our garden during the severe drought of 2008 and 2009.

Hydrangea quercifolia can be found growing wild in all areas of Alabama, making it the ideal choice for the official wildflower of the state of Alabama.

Spring Rain is Great for the Garden!

Here in Georgia we have enjoyed lots of spring rain! It has been nice to be able to plant so many additions to our garden this year. You see, for the last few years, we have been under severe drought. Summer before last, we lost every single bigleaf hydrangea we had, and they were well-established shrubs we'd had for about 10 years! Needless to say, we've been planting only drought tolerant plants since then. But even drought tolerant plants need water at first to get off to a good start. And water from rain is the best! So each time rain is in the forecast, I'm out there planting again. Our new plantings consist of the following drought tolerant plants:

• Oakleaf Hydrangea
• Evergreen Azaleas
• Native Azaleas
• Hellebores
• Rohdea
• Aspidistra
• Spirea
• Juniper

We've also planted a number of Camellias, since we're getting all this rain. They'll be drought tolerant too, once established. The photo shown was taken at Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia. A lake is one thing we lack here at Shady Gardens. Perhaps one day we can install one of those manmade lakes...

Drought Tolerant Plants for Georgia

Recently here in Georgia, we have received plenty of rain. For that, we are very thankful. But it is wise to make provisions for drought to return, and plant wisely when planning our gardens. Below you will find a list which includes plants we are successfully growing in our garden with no supplemental water. Some are native, some are not. Aspidistra (Cast Iron Plant) Callicarpa americana (Purple Beauty Berry) Carolina Jessamine Daphne odora (Fragrant Winter Daphne) Hellebore (Lenten Rose) Hydrangea quercifolia (Oakleaf Hydrangea) Oxalis (Wood Sorrell) Pachysandra Procumbens Pomegranate Rhododendron austrinum (Florida Flame Azalea) Rhododendron alabamense (Alabama Native Azalea) Rohdea Japonica (Nippon Lily/Japanese Sacred Lily) Sedums Spirea Wisteria frutescens (American wisteria-Not invasive!) For more information on any of these recommended plants, please visit Shady Gardens Nursery.