Hardy Hydrangeas for Summer Flowers— By John Dunbar 



Rochester, 

 New York 



NATIVE AND OTHER SHRUBS WHICH KEEP THE GARDEN GAY FROM JUNE TO OCTOBER— PRUNING FOR 

 IMMENSE HEADS OF FLOWER— THE BEST SPECIES TO EXTEND THE SEASON AND HOW TO GROW THEM 



Photographs by Henry Troth, P. N. Humphries, and others 



[~"\URING the summer time, when there is a 

 *-^ scarcity of hardy conspicuously flowered 

 shrubs, the beauty of the hardy hydrangeas 

 is all the more striking. They are not only 



78. For Easter flower in pots grow varieties of 

 Hydrangea hortensis. The variety Otaksa is the dwarfest 

 yet best grower. It has blacK stems. Not hardy 

 above ground in the North 



very showy flowering shrubs, but they are 

 nearly all natives and are the easiest of any 

 plants to grow. They give a succession of 

 bloom in profusion from June 15th to Sep- 

 tember 1st. There is only one requisite: all 

 hydrangeas to flower freely and look healthy 

 and vigorous must be planted in a deep, rich, 

 well-drained soil, with full exposure to the 

 sun. They will grow in a partly shaded 

 position, but will not flower satisfactorily. 



THE SECRET OF PRUNING FOR FLOWERS 



Most of the hardy hydrangeas (including 

 the common H. paniculata) flower on the 

 young growths of the current year, and so can 

 be pruned any time during winter or spring 

 before growth starts. But there are some 

 species, like H. vestita and H. Bretschneideri, 

 that form their flower buds on the young 

 shoots of the previous year, and winter 

 pruning or cutting back the branches in win- 

 ter or early spring will, of course, prevent 

 flowering. I know of one H. Bretschneideri 

 which was pruned back every winter for a 

 number of years, to the perennial disappoint- 

 ment of the owner, who never saw a flower. 

 He was giving it the same treatment as 

 H. paniculata. One winter's day, happening 

 to observe that the ends of the branches had 

 large, plump, round buds different from those 

 on the other hydrangeas, he left them un- 



pruned. Result, the bushes flowered freely 

 the following year. All the pruning required 

 by this type is a little thinning out of the weak 

 branches and the removal of the flowering 

 clusters when they are through blooming. 



H. paniculata and variety grandiflora flower 

 much more freely when they are cut back 

 severely in late winter or early spring. If the 

 bushes are healthy and in good form, and 

 require no pruning other than to place them 

 in good flowering condition, cut back the 

 shoots of the previous year to within three or 

 four buds of the base. You can cut H. pani- 

 culata, var. grandiflora, almost to the ground, 

 annually, in early spring, and if the plants are 

 growing in deep rich soil they will produce 

 flower clusters of immense size, on long cane- 

 like shoots, and must be tied up, which is a 

 decided nuisance. That kind of pruning is 

 only advisable when very large panicles of 

 bloom are desired. 



A SCARCITY OF INSECT PESTS 



I have never seen any of the hydrangeas 

 attacked by scale insects, but H. paniculata 

 and var. grandiflora are frequently attacked 

 by the small mite known to gardeners as red 

 spider. If the spider is numerous and not 

 checked the leaves will first turn yellowish, 

 then present a scorched appearance and 



finally drop. It is rarely troublesome, how- 

 ever, if the plants are growing vigorously in 

 moist rich soil. This pest is always worse in 

 a drought, or if the plants are checked in 

 growth from any cause. Sprayings of clear 

 water under strong pressure is the remedy. 

 The rose beetle frequently attacks the foliage 

 of hydrangeas. This is perhaps one of the 

 most irrepressible of insect pests, but for- 

 tunately its season of attack does not last more 

 than three or four weeks. I have tried 

 numerous supposed remedies, but nothing 

 quite effective. The most satisfactory treat- 

 ment so far has been Ivory soap, dissolved 

 and boiled in the proportion of one-half 

 pound of soap to ten gallons of water and 

 applied by a spray pump. This kills the 

 rose beetle by contact, but the treatment has 

 to be frequently repeated. This soap used 

 in any degree of strength does not hurt the 

 foliage, and is also destructive to a great many 

 other insect pests, and, lastly, it is pleasant and 

 cleanly to handle, which cannot be said of 

 whale-oil soap, and many other insecticides. 



SOIL CONDITIONS CONTROL PLANTING 



There is little to choose in the season for 

 planting hydrangeas. If the soil is heavy 

 and somewhat cold they had better be planted 

 in spring, but if the soil is of a light, loamy 



79. The oaK-leaved hydrangea (H. quercifolia) of the South is hardy as far north as Philadelphia. A smaller 

 tree than the common H. vanicalata, var. grandiflora. Has pinkish-white flowers, the sterile ones becoming purple 



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