Each year there are more amazing hydrangeas becoming available to homeowners. In this post, I want to share with you one of my all-time favorites. An oldie but a goodie and a must-have for anyone home landscape – The Oakleaf Hydrangea.
Oakleaf Hydrangea
There is no other shrub that can outclass the Oakleaf Hydrangea or Hydrangea quercifolia as the Horties call it!
I recently had been sorting through images from my garden blog past and came across an entry about this gem in my garden. It is a must that I share this because this is truly a treasure in any landscape. There are five types of Hydrangeas. Oakleaf Hydrangeas is part of the Oakleaf Hydrangeas | Hydrangea quercifolia.
The beautiful white-blooming shrub is a native in the united states and adds interest to any garden year-round. The plant seems to bloom best in gardening zones where summers are somewhat hot. An advantage of growing this plant is it can also tolerate the cold winters we endure in Ohio. The Oakleaf hydrangeas thrive with little maintenance and grow great in sandy soil. The Oakleaf gets its name from the shape of its beautiful large leaves. These leaves often turn colors of brilliant red, orange, yellow and burgundy in the fall if planted in a sunny location with a little afternoon shade. The Oakleaf hydrangea can tolerate and even thrive in much dryer and hotter conditions than the rest of its family. The variety I am growing in my garden is the single bloom.
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Hardy in USDA zones 5-9, oakleaf hydrangea is tolerant of many growing conditions. A versatile shrub used in woodland borders and foundation plantings.
When to Prune
Oakleaf hydrangeas are bloom on the previous season’s growth, so prune right after flowering in the fall or in super early spring. I prune lightly about 12″ of the older growth from my oakleaf hydrangeas in early spring before green starts to appear. You want to prune early with a sharp pruner for a good smooth cut.
I have also cut the autumn blooms off for drying to use indoors during the late summer. This is a great time to prune the shrub as well.
The winter Oakleaf Hydrangea blooms are a nice addition to the landscape during the winter months. This is why I often wait to prune what is left of mine from drying in the early spring. Since 2003 I have NEVER had a summer with out beautiful fragrant blooms from this shrub.
Oakleaf Hydrangea in Autumn
The color interest in late summer through many hard frost in Autumn it outstanding. This plant is surely one of the hard to miss in the landscape as you will see in the video below. I share my thoughts about the shrub and actual footage of it growing in my autumn landscape.
Oakleaf Hydrangea content on this page is part of my Bren Haas Channel.
This shrub is over 30 years old!
More Hydrangeas Bren Haas Grows
Over the past 20 years my garden has been blessed with over a dozen different varieties of Hydrangeas. A few of the recent cultivar are listed in the blog posts below.
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Huge Fan of Hydrangeas,
2 Responses
Can I grow a cutting of my oak leaf hydrangea in the house this winter and then plant it in the garden come spring?
Hey Gerri – I want to note that I have never done this before but I’m willing to give it a try! The oakleaf hydrangea would do best if a root cutting was placed in the soil next to the main plant. With that in mind, a well-established plant can be divided easily. For propagating, you will want to take a cutting no longer than 3-4 inches. Strip the leaves off of the plant before dabbing the base of cutting in a root hormone mix. Plant that cutting in a moist potting soil container that is no bigger then 4″ pot. You are going to need to keep an eye on that container making sure it doesn’t dry out. It takes about 8 weeks for the plant to set roots. I am in Ohio so if I start a cutting now it should be ready with roots to plant before a hard frost in early November. I don’t recommend keeping the new starter indoors just because I do feel it is best to keep the plant in outside shade conditions. GOOD LUCK! I will try and put a video up featuring my cutting as soon as possible. LINK will be placed on this comment thread so turn on notifications so you know when I post!