Hi, I’m James and welcome back to my zone 5B garden in New Brunswick. Today’s video is going to be mostly about hydrangeas zone 5b . I will take you around the garden a little bit and highlight some of the other things in flower.
50 Plus Hydrangeas and What’s in Flower Now
But given that it is hydrangea season, uh the start of the panicle hydrangea season, kind of want to go over some of that with you. I’ve got about 50 plus hydrangeas in the garden and we’ll kind of highlight some of the ones that are more in flower now. Um, not all of them um are in flower, but some of the earlier varieties are.
Bobo Hydrangeas — Third and Fourth Season Growth
These Bobo hydrangeas um they’re not super large yet. This is the third season. I’ve had this is the start of the fourth season I’ve had them in the ground and they’re probably only not even approaching 3 ft yet. They’re close to 3 ft by 3 ft wide.
Hoping for More Height and Feeding the Soil
These ones I hope to get closer to 4 ft. It’d be nice if they came up a little bit higher. Um I may have to feed this. I haven’t amended the soil.
Compost, Weeds, and Bomb-Proof Panicle Hydrangeas
Got a nice weed here in since I created this bed 4 years ago. So, I could probably add more compost, which would help. But these panicle hydrangeas are bomb-proof um as are most panicle hydrangeas. They bloom on old wood only.
Shearing, Shaping, and Flowering in Late July
So, you can um shear these back in the fall or early spring and shape them to whatever size you want and they will uh produce flowers regardless. Um, these ones do flower fairly early, I find, in my zone 5B garden. It is late July and the panicles started opening up probably about a week or so ago.
Mid Late July Show Right Through to Fall
So, mid late July, these start putting on a show and they’ll start uh they’ll continue right on through to fall. Um unlike other panicle hydrangeas, I find that these ones, the panicles themselves um don’t really fade so much to a pink. They they fade slightly, but they don’t produce quite the the pink show when the temperatures cool in the fall.
Foundation Planting — Little Lime Punch Hydrangea
I’ve got two panicle hydrangeas here along the foundation planting at the front of my home. They are at uh their mature size of about 3 ft by 3 ft. The one at the back is a mop head style and it is the little lime punch hydrangea and it gets a nice uh punchy color as the season progresses.
The Flare Hydrangea and Its Lace Cap Style Panicle
And this one in front of it is called a flare hydrangea. And it has more of a lace cap style panicle, but also gets a nice pink color in the late summer and early fall. All right, these are the little quickfire panicle hydrangeas.
Little Quickfire — A Real Pollinator Friendly Hydrangea
And unlike the Bobo hydrangea, they are a lace cap hydrangea. They don’t have the full panicle like the Bobos did. Um they have infertile florets here in the middle and uh it’s a real pollinator friendly hydrangea because the pollinators really like getting the nectar and pollen from that area.
Staying Small and Flowering Early in Hydrangeas Zone 5b
It’s very accessible to them. Um the nice thing about the little quickfire is it does stay smaller on the smaller side about 3 ft by 3 feet. And this particular uh cultivar does flower very earlier in our zone 5b garden. Probably the earliest flowering um hydrangea.
Fading to Pink and Another Panicle Hydrangea Down There
Again, early mid July the it starts forming its panicles. Um and this one does fade to a nice pink over time. And I’ve got another one down there. And here another panicle hydrangea.
Quickfire Fab — A Mop Head with a Full Panicle
Uh another variety of the quickfire. This is the quickfire fab. And unlike the little quickfire and the original quickfire, this one is a mop head. Um, you’ll see the uh it’s got a full panicle.
One of the Earliest Blooming Mop Head Panicle Hydrangeas
And uh this one is also an early bloomer. It is probably in terms of the mop head type uh panicle hydrangeas. One of the earliest blooming one. I think the spring sizzler, which I don’t have, may be a little earlier blooming.
Tripled in Size in One Season — 8 ft Tall and 6 ft Wide
But this one, these three here right in front of me, um, I planted last fall as one gallon plants about this big. And they’ve tripled in size in one season. These ones will get about 8 ft tall as well and about 6 ft wide. This is actually the back of my front border.
Back of the Front Border — Road Side vs. Deck Side
Um, so when you’re coming up from the the road, uh, this is this is the side you see, but when we’re sitting on our deck, this is the back side. And I put them to the back obviously because they will get quite large and get larger quite considerably larger than the perennials and shrubs in front of it. The cone flowers are sure flowering nice.
Wild Rudbeckia from the Ditch Doing Quite Well
And then behind you do have the echinacea. And this is just a um a wild uh rudbeckia that I collected the seed from the ditch and it seems to be doing quite well here as well. But this area is particularly nicely in flower right now.
Waiting for 8 ft Height and That Vibrant Pink and Red
I can’t wait until this panicle hydrangea grows to its full eight-foot height, and it is already showing lovely pink shades in places. This one gets really vibrant uh pink and even red um as the nighttime temperatures slowly get cooler in the fall.
Incrediball Spirit 2 — A Smooth Leaf Annabelle Hydrangeas Zone 5B
This here is the Incrediball Spirit 2. It is a smooth leaf hydrangea, also referred to as an Annabelle hydrangea. It also flowers on new wood. So, these particular hydrangeas, you can trim back in the fall after flowering um or early spring to whatever shape you want.
Nice Pink Blooms That Fade to Brown Over Time
This particular one will probably get four to 5 ft tall and wide over time. And it’s only been in the ground um since last fall. And the blooms are fairly nice pink. They will fade to a brown in time.
Smooth Leaf Hydrangeas Need a Little Bit More Water
These particular smooth leaf hydrangeas need a little bit more water I find than the panicle hydrangeas I’ve showed you previously. They um especially in the hot summer temperatures, they will fade to brown quicker if they’re not hydrated more regularly. But uh a really nice early flowering hydrangea.
Smooth Leaf Hydrangeas Are the First to Flower
This extends the hydrangea season in my zone 5B garden as they flower earlier than any panicle hydrangea. All the smooth leaf hydrangeas are the first to flower. And I’ve got several more I want to show you. And behind it, you have the taller blue spiked flower.
Liatris or Gay Feather and Daisies on Their Way Out
That’s a liatris or gay feather. Pairs nicely with the incrediball spirit 2. And the daisies in behind that are kind of on their way out. They are flopping fairly bad.
No Chelsea Chop This Year — Flowerful Hydrangeas at the Gate
Those ones back there, I did not give them the Chelsea chop this year, which tends to control their size and prevent um flopping. These two hydrangeas on uh either side of the gate are also smooth leaf hydrangeas. They are called flowerful and they are also in their second season bought as a one-gallon uh midsummer last year.
Almost Died Last Summer but Bounced Back Quite Nicely
This particular one on the left almost died. Um we had an extremely dry summer last year, but it seems to have bounced back quite nicely. The mop head style flowers are fairly large. Not quite as large as the um Incredible, but they still put on a really nice show.
Lime Green to White and Sturdier Stems Than the Incredible
And um they’re loaded with flowers. They start off kind of a lime green and then will fade to a white. Um particularly like these ones. They stay a little smaller than the Incredible and I find that their stems are a little sturdier than the Incredible so they do stay upright more.
Darker Green Foliage and a Really Nice Vibrant Look
Um, and the foliage is just a darker green. The leaf itself looks nice and vibrant against the white flower, which I like. Now, we’re at the backside garden, and in front of us, we have a couple incredible smooth leaf hydrangeas, and it did rain last night.
Mop Heads Drooping After Rain — Tendency to Flop
And you can see some of the the mop heads um drooping at the front. Um, it does have a slightly sturdier stem than the original Annabelle hydrangea, but it does have a tendency to flop nonetheless, partly due to the size of the flower on the plant. They are massive.
Two Favorite Smooth Leaf Hydrangeas — 4 to 5 ft Tall and Wide
And they’re probably between that and the flowerful hydrangeas, these are probably my two favorite um smooth leaf hydrangeas. This one does get a little larger, about 4 feet to 5 ft tall and wide. This is the vanilla strawberry panicle hydrangea by First Editions. And I love this panicle hydrangea.
Vibrant Pink That Starts from the Base and Works Its Way Up
It uh does flower fairly early in our zone 5B garden as well. And it gets a real vibrant uh pink that starts from the base and works its way up the panicle as the season progresses. And it has a sturdy stem.
Strawberry Sundae — Compact at 4 ft Tall and Wide
And what I like about this one, um, unlike the, um, I think it was the strawberry, this is a strawberry sundae. And unlike the vanilla strawberry, the original one, this one stays only about 4 ft tall and tall and wide. So, it’s fairly compact and you can kind of tuck it in anywhere.
Let’s Dance Can Do — Macrophylla Crossed with Serrata
This is the Let’s Dance Can Do hydrangea from Proven Winners. And this one does particularly well in our zone 5B garden. It is a macrophylla crossed with the serrata hydrangea. The macrophyllas tend to be less bud hardy and the serrata hydrangeas tend to have a little more bud hardiness.
Full Dieback in Winter but Grows Back Fairly Quickly
This particular plant does generally die back in the fall um or over the winter and early spring. We usually uh have a full dieback, but it does grow back fairly quickly. And um the nice thing about this particular variety is it flowers on both new and old wood.
Old Wood Blooms Lost but New Growth Reblooms All Season
So although I lose all the old wood blooms, um they they they set their buds in the previous fall, um I do usually lose those old um wood blooms with the dieback in the spring, but all the flowers you see here in front of me are from the new growth. So it does rebloom quite uh profusely and uh it kind of uh blooms all all season from about mid July to fall.
Let’s Dance Sky View — Reblooms on Old and New Wood
This here is a small one quart um let’s dance sky view hydrangea and it is like the can do hydrangea um it does rebloom um so it blooms on old and new wood. This one also dies back over the winter and early spring. So the blooms you see here are on new wood only.
Change the Soil pH and Get a Bluer Flower
And like the can do the sky view you if you change the soil pH you can get a bluer flower. Our natural pH in this location is approaching neutral or slightly alkaline. So you get the pink flower. And here you see another new little bud on it.
Very Small Quart Size — Only 18 in to 2 ft in Our Zone
This is just a quart size. So it is very small. Um this particular plant will get they stay they say 3 ft by 3 ft but because we get the dieback in the fall or early spring um I would say in our zone we usually get it uh they only grow to about 18 in to 2 ft tall but but tall and wide. And I’ve got a a mature one I’ll show you here shortly.
More Mature Sky View — 18 in Tall with a Purple Flower
This is a more mature uh let’s dance sky view hydrangea. It has been in the ground I think this is the start of the third season and you can see um maybe uh for perspective and reference it’s hard to tell but this is about 18 in tall and maybe about 2 ft wide. Um it does have more of a purple flower on it.
Slightly More Acidic Soil and All New Wood Flowers
This particular location is slightly more acidic. Um, which most of our soils here I’ve tested are closer to slightly acidic approaching neutral. Um, this one has a lot. All these flowers, again, this died back over uh the winter and early spring.
New Wood Flowers Nicely All the Way to Fall First Frost
So all these little flowers here are the new wood flowers and it will flower nicely all the way to fall first frost. And just at the back garden along the barn, we do have a more mature Bobo hydrangea here. This one is approaching its mature size. It’s probably about 3 ft by 3 ft.
Dense Bobo at the Barn with Nice Flowering Perennials
It can get a little larger, but I just wanted to show you um just how dense it is. It does flower and the nice flowering perennials surrounding it. I have the same wild uh rudbeckia that I got from seed from the our ditch. And we have some echinacea in behind it.
Veronica Speedwell from Seed and Bees Resting in the Morning
And this is um a Veronica Speedwell, just a blue variety that I grew from seed. And it’s early morning. And the bees are kind of resting on the flowers. They particularly like the Veronica Speedwell.
A Climbing Hydrangea That Needs Time and Patience
Unlike the panicle smooth leaf and macrophylla/serrata hydrangeas I’ve shown you previously, this is a climbing hydrangea. Um, it does prefer a part sun location in our uh in our climate. Um, it’s fairly new. Um, I’ve only had it in the ground since fall of last year.
40 ft High — Won’t Flower for Another Seven Years
And this will eventually take over this whole tree about uh 40 ft high. It will climb. But you have to be patient with these. This probably won’t flower for another seven years. So, you do have to invest a bit of time and patience with them.
Limelight Prime — 5 to 6 ft Tall and Almost at Mature Height
This is a Limelight Prime panicle hydrangea. And uh unlike the original Limelight hydrangea, this one stays about 5 to 6 feet tall and wide. So it’s almost at its mature height. Um it does flower a little earlier than the Limelight.
Latest Flowering Panicle and Pruning It Into a Tree Form
I find the limelight uh is the latest the latest flowering panicle hydrangea I have. This particular one I’ve been thinking about pruning into a standard or tree form um as it has one main lateral here. And I think uh I’ve been thinking about it enough and uh I’m going to just do it.
Just Like That — A Tree Form Limelight Prime Hydrangea
And just like that, I’ve created a tree form hydrangea um limelight prime. Um, this one, um, is a little sturdier stemmed than the original Limelight, so I think it’ll make a nice standard tree form panicle hydrangea.
