Saturday, June 6, 2015

Hail to the (Snow) Queen!




Oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) flowers fade from white to pink


'Snow Queen' oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) that is...

Well, I think this is 'Snow Queen'. I had been laboring under the false impression for a couple of years that I had planted H. quercifolia 'Snowflake', but I recently learned (thanks Deb!) that 'Snowflake' is double-flowered, whereas mine is clearly single-flowered.

Whether this is 'Snow Queen' or a pretender to the throne, she's surely a beauty. Love the way those white flowers are growing all pinky as they fade!

4 comments:

  1. I had the opposite experience. what I thought was Snow Queen turned out to be Snowflake

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    1. Well, maybe your plant and mine got switched somewhere along the line? ;)

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  2. We had 5" of rain in May and already there for June. We absolutely do not normally have that much. Some years we have around 1 -2" at most. But my oakleaf has loved it and in its 5 year life has never looked this beautiful. The bloom s lasted quite a while and then went to the greenish stage. It always skips that stage and goes to brown.

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    Replies
    1. Sounds marvelous! We had quite a wet spring too (very wet April, very dry 3 weeks in late-April / early-May, then a very wet end to May). Perhaps that's why the Snow Queen has blossomed and flourished so much this year? I'm sure we'll have drier years in the future that will give me a chance to compare, but your theory sounds reasonable.

      Happy Gardening!

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