Fall Hydrangea Blooms

China has contributed a number of popular plants to the western world. and, because fall flowering shrubs are so few, perhaps none is more welcome than the hydrangea. It prolongs summer’s lease and brightens a landscape beginning to look somber because its glory is fading.

Blue hydrangeas planted in tubs have a regal grandeur no matter where they’re placed, on the porch, along walks or in the garden. But the best one for garden culture is the Peegee hydrangea. This, Hydrangea paniculata grandiflora, grows to a height of 8 feet and has greenish white blooms which become blush-pink and bronze as the season advances.

The grandest specimen of the Peegee I have ever seen stood nearly 12 feet tall and was as wide. Among the right number of deep green leaves to furnish a fine setting were displayed gorgeous balls of feathery-frothy flowers in large clusters. This shrub or tree is planted at the front of a home at Grimsby Beach, Ontario, in the shelter of the Niagara Escarpment where many other splendid flowers and shrubs bloom.

Hydrangea also grows satisfactorily in northern Ontario in places where water is abundant, soil is particularly rich and drainage good. It requires very little care and is notably free from, insect attacks. And, although considered but medium hardy, it is known to have come through very cold, over 40 degrees below zero winters, with no more protection than a few leaves and plenty of snow.

Lovely with hydrangea is the red maple, it enlivens the fall picture with a resplendent burst of fiery golden red foliage.

An interesting third to the maple and hydrangea is the mountain ash or rowan, which, unwilling to be outdone by these, performs a strip tease to uncover a symmetrical shape unlike anything in the flower kingdom. On its lovely limbs it displays artistic bunches of red berries and continues to show off until it is robed with a mantle of snow.

by C Dorian

Related Articles Of Interest:

• Trees to Plant This Fall
• The Lovely Redbud
• Blue Hydrangea Flower
• Adventures With Hydrangeas… They Will Grow Outdoors Up North