Jetstream® Oakleaf Hydrangea

Jetstream is an oakleaf hydrangea with unusually strong stems, so the big white flower panicles stay upright instead of leaning over as they fill out. Hydrangea quercifolia Jetstream grows 5 to 6 feet tall and 4 to 5 feet wide in part shade with four to six hours of sun, mostly before midday. Hardy from Zone 5 through Zone 8, reaching full size in three or four seasons.

The panicles are dense and upright, opening pure white in early summer and aging to soft pink through late summer. They dry on the plant and hold into winter.

Foliage is deeply lobed and oak-shaped, dark green and thick, turning burgundy red in fall and holding late in the season. Older stems peel in cinnamon strips, which gives the plant something to look at after the leaves drop. Mildew resistance is better than most oakleafs, so the leaves stay clean through humid summers.

Oakleaf hydrangea is native to the Southeast and takes more sun and drought than the bigleaf types once established, though it wants steady moisture through the first year or two. It flowers on old wood, so the buds form the previous summer and hard spring pruning costs you the display.