Choosing a Hydrangea paniculata

Based on the pruning

If some Hydrangea paniculata of modest size are well-suited for pot cultivation or small spaces, others can reach heights of 3 metres with a spread of 2 metres and are best placed at the back of a border or in a flowering hedge.

Dwarf varieties to grow in pots or small gardens

They integrate beautifully on terraces and balconies as well as at the edge of borders.

• Hydrangea paniculata ‘Bobo’: it barely exceeds 70cm in height.
• Hydrangea paniculata ‘Polestar’: ultra-compact, it will not exceed approximately 50 cm in height and width.
• Hydrangea paniculata ‘Little Quick Fire’: at maturity, this variety will not exceed 1 m in height with a spread of about 1.20 m.

Hydrangea paniculata ‘Polestar’

The intermediate varieties

Versatile and interesting for their more compact habit, they form sturdy bushes. They are perfect in pots as well as in small gardens, either as standalone plants or in borders.

• Hydrangea or Hortensia paniculata ‘Silver Dollar’: it does not exceed 1.50 m in height and width.
• Hydrangea paniculata ‘Diamantino’: this variety rarely exceeds 1.20 m in all directions.

Hydrangea paniculata ‘Silver Dollar’ (© Jörg Kaspari)

XXL varieties

These are beautiful bushy hydrangeas with significant growth. They are intended for gardens rather than pot cultivation. You can place them as standalone plants or in a flowering hedge, or integrate them into a border of trees and shrubs. Some boast impressive dimensions and very large flowers.

• Hydrangea paniculata ‘Unique’: at maturity, it reaches a height of 3 to 4 m.
• Hydrangea paniculata ‘Grandiflora’: a large bushy Hydrangea that has proven itself, measuring 2.50 to 4 m in all directions.
• Hydrangea paniculata ‘Levana’: larger than most other varieties, it can reach 3 metres in height.
• Hydrangea paniculata ‘Phantom’: it measures 2.50 m in height at maturity.

Hydrangea paniculata ‘Phantom’

According to the colour of the flowers

Panicle hydrangeas reward us with a dazzling palette of colours, offering vibrant and extravagant flowerings, ranging from bicoloured and changing varieties to more delicate and natural ones.

Elegant ones

• Hydrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’: a classic that displays large inflorescences that start green and then turn white, magnificent in natural gardens or in a white garden.
• Hydrangea paniculata ‘Little Lime’: the miniature version of ‘Limelight’, just as refreshing with its anise green panicles.

Hydrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’ (© Leonora Enking)

Changing tones

• Hydrangea paniculata ‘Wim’s Red’: a surprising variety that changes from white to red during the summer!
• Hydrangea paniculata ‘Diamant Rouge’: it starts flowering white “diamond” before turning to a wine-red by the end of the season. It is the reddest of the Hydrangea paniculata!
• Hydrangea paniculata ‘Pinky Winky’: its elongated panicles bloom white before taking on Tyrian rose hues in early autumn.
• Hydrangea paniculata ‘Fraise Melba’: its conical panicle inflorescences start ivory white, tinting to pink, then red as the cooler summer nights arrive.
• Hydrangea paniculata ‘Magical Vesuvio’: it captivates with its beautiful changing colours, starting white in July, then gradually turning to purplish red.
• Hydrangea paniculata ‘Dart’s Little Dot’: it is covered in small conical white panicles, eventually turning pink to reddish in early autumn.

Hydrangea paniculata ‘Diamant Rouge’

Bicoloured ones

• Hydrangea paniculata ‘Vanille Fraise’: it is characterised by large panicles of flowers in intertwined pink and white tones.
• Hydrangea paniculata ‘Sundae Fraise’: it offers a lovely gradient of colours when its white and bright pink florets are adjacent.

Hydrangea paniculata ‘Vanille Fraise’ (© Leonora Enking)

According to the shape of the panicles

While Hydrangea macrophylla produces large, often spherical inflorescences, those of Hydrangea paniculata are distinguished from their cousins by their conical panicles. However, they can take on some truly surprising forms. The inflorescences of hydrangeas are characterised by large, decorative sterile flowers located on the periphery, and small, discreet fertile flowers arranged in the centre. Horticultural varieties are generally selected for their more numerous, more prominent, and more colourful sterile flowers.

Fluffy

• Hydrangea paniculata ‘Kyushu’: it features a light and elegant flowering where the small fluffy fertile flowers are perfectly distinguished from the sterile flowers with long pedicels and long petals.
• Hydrangea paniculata ‘Dentelle de Gorron’: another French novelty that showcases only its sterile florets, of infinite lightness, as if crocheted in lace!
• Hydrangea paniculata ‘Great Star Le Vasterival’: it offers very delicate panicles that gather simple sterile florets with undulating, pure white petals borne on long pedicels, along with discreet buds of fertile flowers.

Hydrangea paniculata ‘Kuyshu’

Geometric

• Hydrangea paniculata ‘Pastelgreen ® Rencolor’: this paniculate hydrangea is distinguished by its rounded, bicoloured inflorescences rather than conical ones. It is a true novelty that resembles a Hydrangea macrophylla.
• Hydrangea paniculata ‘Mega Mindy’: this paniculate hydrangea develops large, dense, elongated pink inflorescences of 25 cm in length that evoke delicious “candy floss”!

Hydrangea paniculata ‘Pastelgreen Rencolor®’

According to the size of flowers

Hydrangea paniculata forms panicles measuring up to 40 cm in length, which can be interesting for adding character to a composition or for bringing a dull flowerbed out of its torpor! These sometimes extraordinary dimensions allow for playing with contrasts and shapes in a free hedge or flowerbed. Their XXL flowers are also used for creating oversized fresh and dried bouquets.

• ‘Hydrangea paniculata ‘Hercules’: it astonishes with the enormous size of its conical inflorescences of nearly 40 cm long on a relatively compact small bush. Rarely seen in this type of hydrangea.
• Hydrangea paniculata ‘Skyfall’®: an astonishing new variety with very large white flowers over 30 cm in length on a bush barely 120 cm tall and 70 cm wide.

Hydrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’ (© Gwenaëlle David)

According to the flowering period

The summer flowering of Hydrangea paniculata usually begins in July and can last until October. Some varieties are clever enough to bloom earlier or offer a remarkably long flowering period.

Early flowering hydrangeas

• Hydrangea paniculata ‘Prim White’: It is one of the very first to bloom, as early as the end of May, providing large umbels of white flowers for Mother’s Day!
• Hydrangea paniculata ‘Early Sensation’: a lovely, very early and also very original variety with large panicles of flowers starting from the end of June, initially white, turning flesh pink by mid-autumn.

Hydrangea paniculata ‘Primwhite’ and Hydrangea paniculata ‘Early Sensation’

Long flowering hydrangeas

• Hydrangea paniculata ‘Bombshell’®: a new variety that stands out for its particularly long and abundant flowering, which generally starts at the beginning of July and continues until October.
• Hydrangea paniculata ‘White Diamond’: it is covered from August to October with an incredible flowering resembling giant hyacinths of pure white, tinged with red in autumn.

Hydrangea paniculata ‘Bombshell’®