Climbing Hydrangea

Michael Dirr says this about the climbing hydrangea:

"If rules exist for the use of hydrangeas in contemporary garden making, I suggest the reader disobey. If ever a group of plants, when in full plumage, overshadowed their subordinates, the hydrangeas do, eloquently and forcefully. May your garden be graced by at least one to the hydrangeas discussed..."

The climbing hydrangea, H. anomala was first collect by Wallich in Nepal in the early 1820's, described and named by D. Don in 1825 and introduced into Britain in the late 1830's. Thomas Hogg introduced this great climber to the United States in 1865.

It has been divided into two subspecies: H. anomala spp. anomala, from the Asiatic mainland, and H.anomala spp. petiolaris from Japan and Taiwan. It's the last one mentioned that is the familiar "climbing hydrangea" that most people have in their garden if they have been so blessed.

This is a woody, self-clinging deciduous climber, which can grow as tall as 50-60 ft (16 m) or more. It is easily obtained online or at your local garden store.

In it's natural habitat, it is not only a spectacular tree climber, but can climb over rocks, forming a dense ground cover. It is very useful on steep banks, and can be a stand alone plant or trailed over a tree stump where it will form a mound.

In the garden it can cover trees (although not invasive) or grow up along a wall. It adheres like ivy, with aerial roots.

These roots only appear when the shrub is near or against a vertical support and they do not do any harm.

We had some planted on the side of our first house (western exposure with shade) and it became one of my favorite plants. The plant will also grow on north-facing walls, but it takes a while to get established.

The white flower heads, stand out and are supported on long peduncles and open in June and are irregular in shape. They would make nice flowers to press. I have never tried to dry them since they don't have as much foliage as the oak leaf or annabel varieties.

If it is unusually dry, the flowers will not last long..only about three weeks.

The climbing hydrangea has bright-yellow foliage in the fall and if carefuly trained and pruned against a wall, the bare branches can be most decorative in the winter months.

If you want to know more about growing hydrangeas, you might like the two books I used to research this article.

The first one is Hydrangeas: A Gardeners' Guide

This book shows the range of possibilities offered by hydrangeas as garden shrubs and it helps with the identification of around 80 of the most readily available cultivars.

The second book is Hydrangeas for America Gardens

The author, Michael A. Dirr has received the highest teaching and gardening awards from the University of Georgia, American Society of Horticultural Science, and more. His books are used as textbooks and reference for those in the horticulture industry. His book on hydrangeas has great pictures and lots of information.