Oakleaf Hydrangea

Hydrangeas are a genus of plants that are native to Asia, North America, and South America. They grow as shrubs, some small and some quite large. There are several different types of flower-heads and the flowers can appear in different colors. As with many plants enjoyed by gardeners, a variety of cultivars have been developed over the years.

I have two different hydrangea species here, but the one featured in this post is the one that is currently blooming: Hydrangea quercifolia, also known as the Oakleaf Hydrangea. It is known by this name because the leaves are shaped a little bit like the leaves of the Red Oak and Scarlet Oak trees.

This particular species is native to the southeastern US, ranging from Tennessee down to Louisiana and over to the Carolinas and Georgia. There is an odd, disconnected, patch reported, and confirmed, growing in central Florida. I found it rather amusing when I learned the range of Hydrangea quercifolia, as my parents always called these the "Chinese Hydrangeas" before we learned anything more about the plants. 😁

Some species of hydrangeas are evergreen but most are deciduous, meaning that the leaves turn color in the autumn and are shed. That's what this shrub does in autumn, too.

It has been said that "Plants in shade have larger leaves than those grown in sun," ^[3] and my Oakleaf Hydrangeas seem to corroborate that statement. My plants receive full sun for only a short time in the late morning, but are mostly in the shade of larger trees for the majority of each day. The only exception is during the winter when the run rides lower in the sky and the plants are virtually dormant. You can see the size of the giant leaves on this plant with my hand in the below shot for size-comparison purposes.

The flowers of some other Hydrangea species, such as Hydrangea macrophylla (which is more common in landscaping and garden uses), change color according to the pH value of the soil. Acidic soils will produce flowers in the blue-to-purple range, while alkaline soil produces flowers in the pink-to-red range. ^[2] The flowers of the Oakleaf Hydrangea, however, are snow-white in the spring, fade to a very pale pinkish color in the late-summer and earlty-autumn, and turn to a papery-brown in the winter.

I have noticed, too, that some of the flowers cling very tightly to the plant and refuse to fall in the autumn and winter. This is exhibited in the following photo which I have titled: "Last Year's Flower" and was taken during April a few years ago, showing one flower that hung onto the bush all through the winter and oncoming spring. It only finally released its hold a month or so before the new flowers came to take its place.

The "flowers" of the Oakleaf Hydrangea are rather similar to those of the sunflower and other species: The white things most of us would call "petals" are actually what botanists would call sterile "ray flowers" while the true, pollen-bearing "flower" are the small yellowish nubs at the very center. If one looks closely, they can be seen; I wish I could have gotten a sharper photo, but I couldn't get my hands to hold still long-enough to get a sharp focus. ~It's hell, getting old.~

The other hydrangeas I have (Hydrangea macrophylla) are just beginning to develop flowers now, and perhaps I will be able to feature them in a future blog post. Meanwhile, I have been enjoying these Oakleaf Hydrangea flowers for most of the past month.