Hydrangea macrophylla So Long Aya

Hydrangea macrophylla So Long 'Aya' is a unique variety. It bears sturdy stems with a surprising black hue. Its dark green leaves have a fairly pronounced irregular dentation. In summer, large-diameter inflorescences appear, consisting of fertile flowers in the centre and large sterile florets around the edge. These wavy pink flowers have white marbling that gives them a fringed aspect. It is a compact bush. It will enhance a flower bed in open ground, or a terrace if planted in a pot. Grow in moist, non-limestone soil. 

Hydrangea macrophylla is a deciduous bush, native to Japan, where its beauty has been appreciated for centuries, and mentioned in poems dating back to the 8th century! Festivals are even dedicated to this bush. It can be found growing wild on the island of Honshu (which is home to the capital, Tokyo), and it was introduced to Europe around 1789. It is a member of the Hydrangeaceae family, like deutzia or philadelphus.

Hydrangea macrophylla So Long 'Aya' is part of a range obtained by cross-breeding H. macrophylla and H. aspera by Yasuhiro Takahashi in Japan. This variety has all the qualities of the So Long series, plus one: its decorative wood. It forms particularly decorative black stems, which are quite unusual for hydrangeas. As rigid as those of the other varieties in the range, they can be used to create lovely dried flower arrangements. The stems are covered with opposite-decussate leaves, i.e. facing each other and perpendicular from one node to the next. Glossy dark green, they measure 12 to 15cm (5 to 6in) long and have the particularity of having a very pronounced irregular dentation, whereas the classic varieties of Hydrangea macrophylla have small, regularly aligned teeth. This rather dense vegetation forms a perfect dark background to highlight the flowering. Stretching from July to September, even October, it consists of inflorescences measuring up to 15cm (6in) in diameter. They are made up of a heart of small pinkish-white fertile flowers, surrounded by sterile flowers with 4 undulating and overlapping petals. These florets have a beautiful pink hue, irregularly edged with white veins, which gives them an aesthetic as beautiful as it is rare. As with many other varieties of Hydrangea macrophylla, these flowers can turn blue in acidic soil rich in alumina.

This small compact bush reaches 80cm (32in) in all directions and forms a rounded dome. Its small dimensions make it easy to grow in a decorative pot or container, to enhance a balcony, a terrace, or a doorway, or to highlight a path. In warm periods, regular watering will be necessary. Hardy down to about -15°C (5°F), it is an easy plant to grow and requires little maintenance, except for annual pruning.

Hydrangeas are essential bushes for filling the garden with summer flowers and 'Aya' will play this role brilliantly. Plant it in a mixed flower bed with other flowering bushes and perennials to create a decorative scene all season long. In spring, the delicate blue flowering of Brunneras and their decorative leaves will form a very pretty foreground at the foot of the hydrangea. Heucheras, whose palette covers almost the entire range of plant colours, will also be ideal in this role, while their light flowering will precede and overlap that of 'Aya'. And for winter, Sarcococca hookeriana will enchant you with its fragrant white flowering, which blossoms on dark green evergreen foliage.