The best garden plants are ones that look great for more than just the few weeks that they’re at their peak. While many summer-blooming perennials put on a lovely show during the warmer months, it’s unusual to find a plant that looks just as good in the cool autumn months. Fortunately, oakleaf hydrangeas earn their keep for many months of the year.
Unlike standard hydrangea bushes that put on their best show with large blooms in early summer but fade by the end of August, oakleaf hydrangeas add a second round of color to your landscape when their leaves turn from green to red, bronze and purple as temperatures drop.
Notes: Oakleaf hydrangeas form a shrub with arching branches that support large panicles of flowers in shades of white, pink or purple. Long-lasting flowers can dry in place on branches for an attractive look that lasts for months. Green, leathery leaves are shaped like oak leaves and turn red, purple or bronze in autumn. Some varieties feature attractive peeling bark on branches for winter interest.
Hydrangea Quercifolia 'pee Wee'
Oakleaf hydrangeas can be planted alone as a specimen within a flower bed or foundation grouping, or you can plant them together as a hedge for major seasonal impact. Although they tolerate partial shade, their leaf color will be most intense when planted in full sun.
To plant your oakleaf hydrangea, dig a hole twice as wide as the root ball of your plant and deep enough that you’ll be able to set the crown at the same depth it was in its container. Add compost to the hole to break up clay soil and provide good drainage. Place your plant in the hole and backfill with a 50/50 mixture of soil and compost, pressing the soil firmly over the root ball.
Water your plant deeply and add a layer of mulch to keep roots cool. Oakleaf hydrangeas need steady moisture until they get established, but in future seasons, these hardy natives are quite drought tolerant. In most areas, an inch of rain per week is ideal.
Oakleaf Hydrangea Gorgeous Native Plant, Huge Oak Like Leaves, Striki
To encourage healthy growth, fertilize your oakleaf hydrangea each spring with a general-purpose garden fertilizer and top dress with fresh compost. Unlike mophead-style hydrangeas, oakleaf hydrangeas won’t change their flower color based on soil acidity, so there’s no need to monitor or alter the pH of your soil.
Because hydrangeas flower on old wood, it’s best to avoid pruning so you don’t accidentally remove flower buds and miss out on summer blooms. If you’re careful about reading the label for the mature size and not crowding the plants, you won’t need to prune unless there’s dead wood to remove after winter damage. To do this, wait until late spring to clip unproductive branches off near the base of the plant.
Oakleaf hydrangeas are occasionally bothered by aphids and Japanese beetles, which eat the plant’s leaves and can weaken its growth. To control them, pick them off by hand and drop them into a bucket of soapy water or spray the branches with an insecticidal soap or Neem. Once established, native oakleaf hydrangeas are usually well-adapted to a range of growing conditions and provide months of beauty to your landscape.
Oakleaf Hydrangea: Planting, Pruning & More
Contact us today about your next project, and be sure to ask about our 100% Customer Satisfaction Guarantee! Call (913) 788-6089 or complete the form to get started.Oakleaf Hydrangeas are a beautiful, full, and flowering plant that make for great additions to any landscaping. Its official name is Hydrangea quercifolia, and it is a deciduous shrub that can grow as high as 8 feet tall. This makes them a great choice for filling in any gaps around your house's foundation or for covering sensitive areas like windows, per the Missouri Botanical Garden.
These stunning shrubs are characterized by their oakleaf-shaped leaves that can range in size anywhere from 4 to 12 inches, and have a particular fuzz when first growing. Once fall rolls around, these leaves tend to turn a red or purple-ish color, and the plant typically blooms in late spring through the summer. Most oakleaf hydrangeas are loved for their distinct, bright-white petals that eventually turn pink, and then once through their life cycles, a faded brown. Oakleaf hydrangeas maintain their blooms all through the summer, making them a solid and reliable statement plant to add to your garden (via North Carolina State University).
Oakleaf hydrangeas are dramatic, beautiful blooming shrubs. They are especially loved for their fullness when fully grown, making them exceptional statement plants. They also work very well as shrubs alongside houses for covering exposed foundation or filling in gaps between other plants. Additionally, The Spruce notes that oakleaf hydrangeas are especially good specimen plants, meaning they are the star of the show of a lawn or garden, planted alone for decorative effect.
Hydrangea Gatsbys Moon
If you're trying to incorporate oakleaf hydrangeas with other plants in your garden, Piedmont Master Gardeners suggests planting alongside boxwoods for contrast in densities and fullness, or ferns that grow higher in height like cinnamon or ostrich ferns; you can also opt for plants that aren't as tall, like liriope, for example. As for where to place your oakleaf hydrangeas, you have quite a few options; aside from planting in front of your foundation, you can plant your hydrangeas along a front porch, as bookends in your garden, or in solo spots at the foot of a driveway or surrounding a mailbox, according to SF Gate.
When sown under the right conditions, oakleaf hydrangeas are fairly easy to grow. Plant Addicts writes that oakleaf hydrangeas can thrive with little attention, making them a pretty low-maintenance plant. Their seeds can typically be purchased in two varieties: single blossoms or double, which is rather self-explanatory; single blossoms result in eventual blooms that are singular-looking, whereas double blossoms appear to have a double layer of petals.
Despite needing less care and attention than other garden plants, oakleaf hydrangeas do still love well-draining soil and a fair amount of light, with a western light exposure being preferred, according to Martha Stewart. Oakleaf hydrangeas also grow best in USDA hardiness zones 5 through 9. For those who aren't familiar, hardiness zones are designed for gardeners to know which plants will grow best in certain regions (via the USDA). It is suggested that you plant oakleaf hydrangeas in late fall or early spring, as this is when the plant is typically dormant and therefore won't be stressed by high temperatures.
Oakleaf Hydrangea Shrub
This variety of hydrangea can handle light sources anywhere from part shade to full sun, and thrive along the borders of woodlands, making them a good transition shrub from established garden beds to something more natural-looking. Just know that the big, beautiful blooms will only happen given there is enough sunlight, particularly on mature, woody stems.
According to Gardening Know How, oakleaf hydrangeas are virtually disease and pest free. Once the plant has rooted and is fairly established, they are also pretty drought resistant. Those are words that every gardener loves to hear.
Still, you want to make sure you're caring for oakleaf hydrangea to the best of your ability, which includes regularly watering these shrubs that can survive in drier areas, but whose blooms thrive on consistent water schedules. City Floral suggests giving your hydrangeas around 1 inch of water throughout the week, but increasing that amount if they are getting more sun. During peak summer days and if your hydrangeas are in full sun, 2 inches of water per week is recommended.
Oakleaf Hydrangea: Our Featured Plant Of The Month!
A common question for those who have never planted oakleaf hydrangeas before is if they require added fertilizer. Martha Stewart says skipping fertilizer is totally okay; however, if your oakleaf hydrangea is drooping, is not blooming when it should, or is showing other signs of distress, adding a little fertilizer can offer a helpful boost. Cedar mulch makes a great base for your hydrangea as it helps preserve soil moisture and contains and preserves nutrients (via Gardening Chores). Finally, Gardening Know How points out that pruning as the plant grows can certainly go a long way with controlling growth and keeping your oakleaf hydrangea happy and healthy.
While there are a number of varieties of hydrangeas with oakleaf being just one within the plant genus, oakleaf hydrangeas themselves offer a variety of similar and different looking plants. According to Piedmont Master Gardeners, there are tall, medium, and compact varieties of oakleaf hydrangeas, with about 15 listed in this particular source. The varieties range from the small Sikes Dwarf oakleaf hydrangea, which grows only 2 to 4 feet tall by 3 to 4 feet wide, to the Alice, which can grow up to 12 feet tall by 12 feet wide.
These varying types of oakleaf hydrangeas also present different kinds of blooms. Every aspect of the plant — from the color or layering of the petals to the shape, size, and position of the blooms — can differ between oakleaf hydrangea varieties. Horticulture Mag lists the Flemygea or Snow Queen variety of oakleaf hydrangea as its favorite, with the aforementioned Sikes Dwarf and Alice also appearing on the (brief) list.
Buy Snow Queen Oakleaf Hydrangea Online
While oakleaf hydrangeas are certainly beautiful and loved for
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