Hydrangeas in Texas
As my first post, I believe it is fitting that I cover my favorite plants of all: hydrangeas. Here in our humid, hot East Texas climate (zone 8a/8b), I have found that all cultivars of hydrangeas seem to thrive -provided they have near daily irrigation in summer. It perplexes me that landscapers & homeowners in the region do not plant hydrangeas more often. Generally speaking, nearly all landscapes in East Texas are filled to the brim with roses, lantana, holly, ornamental grass, & Crape Myrtles. Don’t get me wrong, those plants do absolutely superb in our climate but I do tend to think they’re entirely too over-planted in some settings.
Getting back to hydrangeas -it should first be said that all species of this family I have seen do well here. I have seen Bigleaf, Oakleaf, Smooth, Climbing, & Panicle Hydrangeas flourish in East Texas gardens. But today’s post will pertain to the panicle type -a type which is a staple in northern zone gardens, & newer cultivars have proven them to be quite suited to our blistering & humid summers. Panicle hydrangeas are unlike your traditional bigleaf hydrangeas that generally bloom on old wood & have either pink(alkaline) or blue(acidic) blooms based on soil PH (East Texas soils are usually acidic). Some newer cultivars of bigleaf hydrangeas also bloom on new wood, too. But Panicle hydrangeas bloom only on new wood, which can guarantee us blooms even if we have a late season frost. Their blooms emerge a bright green, which transitions to creamy white, then a chartreuse. They may then progress to a blush pink in fall, although this is based on cooler nighttime temps & is not typical for our area until late in the season. These pictured below are located at LSU and are doing phenomenal. This cultivar pictured, ‘Limelight’ by Proven Winners, was named the Louisiana ‘Superplant’ of 2018.
Last spring, I completed my very first official landscape project. The client has a beautiful house sitting perched on the banks of Lake Palestine. I planted this hedge of Limelight Hydrangeas along the top of his backyard retaining wall. These shrubs were planted in a bed that receives full sun from around 11-4, then semi-dappled sun the rest of the day. They’re spaced in a row centered at 3ft apart. This may seem close for shrubs that grow 6-8ft tall & wide, but essential if you want a dense hedge or mass of them. The soil was amended heavily with peat moss, black kow, miracle grow garden soil, and was mixed with Hollytone fertilizer. These hydrangeas take to a pruning like a bird in flight. The recommended pruning is 1/3 of the plant every spring, but these will mainly be pruned towards the top. This will ensure light reaches the bottom parts of the hedge to allow leaves & blooms all the way to the ground. Otherwise, they may become quite leggy at the bottom.
By mid-July, they were covered in gorgeous creamy white blooms. The contrast they made with the ‘Bordeaux’ Supertunias planted in front of them was even more stunning in person. Over time, the hydrangeas will take up the entire bed forming a dense hedge, so it was important to underplant with annuals.
By late August, they had turned to a chartreuse that seemed to almost glow in the landscape. The blue salvia planted adjacent to them really seemed to complement one another in this space.
This past summer was a particularly dry and hot one. However, the client had irrigation which was channeled in from the lake, which no doubt was better water than regular tap & contained its own organic fertilizer. Unbeknownst to me, the drought we endured dried the lake up to the point he was forced to shut the system off, which was around August. Many plants in the garden suffered due to the lack of water, even including the drift roses. However, the hydrangeas withered it much better than I would’ve previously believed. By early October though, nearly all the flowers had a bit of scorching. I decided to do a bit of deadheading. To my surprise, the shrubs rebloomed again, although with smaller blooms. Some of them even gained tones of pink by late November through December until we had our first heavy freeze. I will no doubt add a soaker hose this year in case the irrigation system fails again in a drought.
This past winter was a relatively mild one & temperatures began going up by late February. As a result, the Limelights had already begun to break dormancy here in late March. It’s early September now and they have come into their prime. I may lightly prune these shrubs to get another flush of blooms around late October & November, which will be right in time for our coolest nighttime temperatures. Hopefully, this will achieve success in getting the blooms to turn that rich blush pink color. The amount of excitement I have to see these shrubs maturing is quite simply immature. Like a kid in a candy store, I eagerly await the treat to see these hydrangeas spill over the side of this retaining wall & complete this space. -Stay tuned.