Hydrangeas are small, hardy, deciduous shrubs with a lush base of deep green leaves, good for partial shade and big patio containers.
They flower for about five months of the year with either lace-cap or mop-head shaped flower clusters; lace-caps are best for admiring up close, and mop heads keep their interest better from a distance.
They are popular as cut flowers and are great dried for a long-lasting household display: you could spray them silver and gold for Christmas decorations.
The Flair and Flavours Range is more compact and even more suitable for large pots. They are reblooming Hydrangeas, which bloom on both new and old growth. This quality is quite new, discovered in 2004 with a variety called Endless Summer that gave the old-fashioned gang a whole new lease of life!
The common name Hortensia means "of the garden", and they are a garden designer's dream: just the ticket for bulking out herbaceous borders!
They look fabulous outside stately front doors in huge heraldic pots, or planted in tiny cottage garden borders alongside carnival Lupins and luscious climbing roses.
With some varieties, their attractive spherical flowers can be made to change colour by planting in alkaline soil (for more pink), or acidic soil for more blue.
Hydrangeas were the targets of thieves in several sprees that made headlines in the 2010's. The plants were either being lifted entirely for resale, or else only the stems were pinched by floristry gangs.
Somehow the story got around that the plants were being smoked as narcotics: they are poisonous, so please don't try!
The name hydrangea stems from the Greek words hydor + angos, meaning water vessel, describing the shape of the seed pods.
The Hydrangea garden in Darley Park, Derby, has new varieties most years, and maintains the only national collection of Hydrangea paniculata in the world, well worth a visit around July.
We also grow two climbing hydrangeas, Petiolaris and Seemannii.
Browse all of our garden shrubs.
Your Hydrangeas are delivered by mail order direct from our nursery, along with expert advice, friendly support, plus our Replacement Guarantee, so you can give them a whirl with complete confidence.