Hydrangea serrata
Hydrangea serrata
Hydrangea serrata
Mountain Hydrangea. Smaller and more compact than macrophylla. Thin stems, dark green leaves with flattened lacecap flowers.
1m
$12
Woodleigh Nursery 300 Mountain Road RD 3 New Plymouth 4373Hydrangea serrata Blue Deckle
Hydrangea serrata Blue Deckle
Hydrangea serrata Blue Deckle
Simply irresistible. Delicious dainty blue lacecaps on a small compact bush. The frilly powder blue sterile florets surround the pale blue true flowers. They almost appear to float above the bush like butterflies. Early flowering. Requires light shade. Ideal for pots & tubs.
1m
$12
Woodleigh Nursery 300 Mountain Road RD 3 New Plymouth 4373Hydrangea serrata Diadem
Hydrangea serrata Diadem
Hydrangea serrata Diadem
Delicate pale pink or blue lacecap flowers. Flowering in early summer before most other varieties.
1m
$16
Woodleigh Nursery 300 Mountain Road RD 3 New Plymouth 4373Hydrangea serrata Grayswood
Hydrangea serrata Grayswood
Hydrangea serrata Grayswood – autumn
Hydrangea serrata Grayswood
Terrific plant because it’s so unusual. The white lacecaps gradually turn pink then bright red and finally to red wine. All this in one flower. Best in part shade or half day sun.
1.5m
$12
Woodleigh Nursery 300 Mountain Road RD 3 New Plymouth 4373Hydrandea serrata Kiyosumi
Hydrandea serrata Kiyosumi
Hydrandea serrata Kiyosumi
A delicate lacecap. White flowers with a red picotee edge. Leaves are small with a red tinge, the new spring growth is bronze coloured. Needs good drainage and some shade.
1.5m
$16
Woodleigh Nursery 300 Mountain Road RD 3 New Plymouth 4373Hydrangea serrata Miyama-yae-Murasaki
Hydrangea serrata Miyama-yae-Murasaki
Hydrangea serrata Miyama-yae-Murasaki
A fabulous hydrangea. Lacey looking dark-blue double lacecap with soft green leaves. Requires some shade.
1.2m
$16 PB5 & $12 PB3
Woodleigh Nursery 300 Mountain Road RD 3 New Plymouth 4373Hydrangea serrata Preziosa
Hydrangea serrata Preziosa
A fabulous hydrangea. Flowers change from pale green, cream to white before turning pink then red wine coloured. Requires light shade.
1.5m
$12
Woodleigh Nursery 300 Mountain Road RD 3 New Plymouth 4373Hydrangea serrata Shirotae | SOLD OUT
Hydrangea serrata Shirotae
Hydrangea serrata Shirotae
A beautiful lacecap flower with double white starry bracts surrounding the fertile flowers which age either green or red depending on light levels. A tidy, compact little plant with narrow leaf form.
0.5m
$16
Woodleigh Nursery 300 Mountain Road RD 3 New Plymouth 4373Hydrangea serrata Tiara
Hydrangea serrata Tiara
Hydrangea serrata Tiara
A delightful small shrub smothered with delicate lacecaps in spring. Flowers either pale pink or pale blue. In autumn the flowers often turn red or green and the foliage will change too with hints of red or even black. Requires a shady spot.
1m
$16
Woodleigh Nursery 300 Mountain Road RD 3 New Plymouth 4373Decision time – what to propagate this year.
Monday morning and we are back into the school routine. Farewell to these holidays, the children are all looking forward now to the next lot. Only 10 weeks till the lovely long Christmas break.
Back to work for me too. I spent the morning collecting cuttings, enough to keep me going for the next few days. We have around 150 species and varieties of Hydrangea’s in our collection. It is always a difficult decision, deciding which varieties to grow and how many of each. There are always the favourites, the ones we know will sell in large numbers, then there are the varieties which are popular in small numbers; and finally there are the more unusual varieties that a few collectors look for. We try to introduce a slightly different selection each year. If there is a variety that is not on our list, please ask as we may have it in small numbers; if not we are happy to grow to order or add it to our list for next year.
An important aspect for me though is labelling and record keeping. I need to be extremely vigilant when I am collecting cuttings; many look remarkable similar if not the same when dealing with a short stem with a few leaves. It can be very difficult to tell the varieties apart by their foliage. While we have a great range of distinctive flowing cultivars, a few are remarkably similar even when in flower. So if the variety you were after is currently out of stock, sometimes a similar substitute can be had.
So what have we decided? Yes we are propagating a selection of climbing hydrangeas. We are trying the aspera types again. Our selection of serrata’s – Blue Deckle, Kyosumi, & Miyama-yae-murasaki are a lovely combination. And then there are the miniatures - well suited to front of borders, small gardens or pots for courtyards and even indoors! Miniatures P. red, Hornli, Madam Baardse are always popular. Remember that pot culture is a great way to bring out the best of the red cultivars.
Janica and Quin Amoore Woodleigh Nursery 300 Mountain Road RD 3 New Plymouth 4373Tel 06 752 0830 | Cell 021 072 7394 (phone or text) | Email janica@woodleigh.co.nz
Hydrangeas – snippets of Japanese culture
Hydrangeas are largely a northern hemisphere plant, or at least those popular in garden cultivation are derived from wild species from north of the equator. They can be found growing in East Asia, especially China, Japan and Vietnam, the U.S., Mexico, Central America and a little below the equator in Andean Equador and Peru. This post focuses on aspects of Japanese Hydrangea culture.
Hydrangeas have been cultivated and appreciated in East Asia for centuries, though it is understood that popularity increased there in the 17th and 18th centuries. Some species native to Japan and popular in world hydrangea cultivation today include H. macrophylla, H. paniculata and H. serrata.
Michael Hawarth-Booth in his well-known book ‘The Hydrangeas’ (1950) wrote;
“Among the wooded hills and shores of Japan, among the beautiful Red or Black Pines leaning picturesquely away from the wind, among the fretted lava rocks or the myriad tiny islets often planted by nature with blood-red Azalea, smoke-blue Wisteria and the wild white Rose, like the scene of a fairy story, the ancestral wild Hydrangeas grow”.
Reading a Japanese local contributors blog site (TsukuBlog from Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan) I learned that Japan experiences a month long rainy season (tsuyu), ending in mid-July when appreciation of natural beauty is ripe. Many Japanese consider AJISAI (or Hydrangea) to be the quintessential flower of this season, when wet and enshrouded in mist. While numerous modern varieties include pinks and whites, the original Japanese name Ajisai means a GATHERING OF BLUES.
The preceding paragraph provides context to a July 2012 GREENPEACE feature story I stumbled across on the web while researching this post – ‘The emerging power of Japan’s ‘Hydrangea’ revolution’. This is a protest against the Japanese government’s decision to restart the Ohi nuclear plant, just 18 months after the devastating tsunami and resulting nuclear Fukushima nuclear disaster.
‘… [the Hydrangea is] a flower the Japanese have traditionally loved because it blooms in June and July, giving hope during the dark, rainy season. Born out of the aftermath of arguably one of Japan’s darkest hours, the movement offers hope and is gathering in numbers – similar to how the Hydrangea forms its flower; each small flower bunches together to form a bigger, more vibrant, flower’.
Who would have thought the Hydrangea would take on this edgy symbolism!
Referred to in preparing this post; C & D Van Gelderen, Encyclopedia of Hydrangeas (2004); G Church, Hydrangeas (2007); Michael Hawarth-Booth, The Hydrangeas (1950); Green peace website (The emerging power of Japan’s ‘Hydrangea’ revolution, 24 Sept 2012); TsukuBlog, Hydrangea in Japanese History and Culture (20 June 2012).
Janica and Quin Amoore Woodleigh Nursery 300 Mountain Road RD 3 New Plymouth 4373
Tel 06 752 0830 | Cell 021 072 7394 (phone or text) | Email janica@woodleigh.co.nz
