Dark ruby-pink mophead flowers 8 to 10 inches across open in late June on this smooth hydrangea and age to a soft parchment pink. Hydrangea arborescens DreamScape® 'BAICZ10' grows 3 to 4 feet tall and 4 to 5 feet wide in full sun to part shade, hardy from Zone 3 through Zone 8.
The heads do not all open at once, so both colors are on the plant together through much of the summer, and the flowers hold well cut or dried on the stem. Its main bloom comes mid-season.
Smooth hydrangea, Hydrangea arborescens, is native to the eastern United States and is one of the hardiest garden hydrangeas, reliable into Zone 3. It flowers on new wood, forming its buds in spring on the current year's growth, so a hard winter or a late frost does not cost it a season of bloom. Soil pH does not change the flower color.
Cut the stems back to about 18 inches in late winter or early spring, before new growth starts, and the plant flowers the same summer on the growth that follows. Leaving that framework rather than cutting to the ground builds thicker stems to carry the flower heads. Smooth hydrangeas need steady moisture, tolerate wet ground, and do best with shade from midday on where summers run hot. Deer do browse them.
Thick, upright stems carry the heavy heads, and the dark green leaves stay clean late into the season. The rounded habit, slightly wider than tall, fills the middle of a foundation planting or a mixed shrub border.
Size at Maturity
Height 3'- 4' Spread 4'- 5'
Growing Zone
USDA Hardiness Zones 3-8
Lowest Temperatures -40°F to -30°F
Light Requirements
Full sun to part shade - 4 or more hours of direct sun per day
Special Conditions
Seasons of Interest
How to Plant
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