Hydrangea macrophylla So Long Starlit Sky

Hydrangea macrophylla So Long 'Starlit Sky' is a variety with a distinctive aesthetic. Its dark green foliage stands out at first glance due to the presence of well-marked teeth on the leaf edges. This dark background particularly highlights its unique flowering. The large flat head inflorescences are formed of fertile flowers in the centre, with stunning sterile flowers on the periphery that draw the eye with their bright pink colour marbled with white. Carried by short and robust stems, they are ideal for making bouquets. A compact bush, ideal for container cultivation and planting in a bed. Choose 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 is found spontaneously on the island of Honshu (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 'Starlit Sky' is a variety of the So Long series, recently obtained in Japan by Yasuhiro Takahashi. Acclaimed by the public from its launch in France in 2021, this bush received the Merit Award 2021 from the international jury of the Chantilly Plant Days. Resulting from the cross-breeding of Hydrangea macrophylla and H. aspera, it shines with its originality and elegantly renews the genus, both in its foliage and its flowering. Emitting short, solid stems, this hydrangea remains compact, thus forming a rounded dome of about 80cm to 1m (32in to 3ft) in all directions. The leaves have an atypical appearance, with their marked and quite irregular dentition, very different from the majority of other varieties with small teeth neatly aligned around the lamina. Dark green, opposite in pairs, they are also slightly undulate, and constitute a dark green mass ideal for magnifying the already very bright flowering. 

The flat-head inflorescences, about 20cm (8in) in diameter, are structured almost horizontally. The heart is occupied by small size sterile cream flowers, tightly packed against each other. They are encircled on the periphery by large, slightly crinkled, sterile florets, in a bright pink colour. The pink is marbled with white, mainly on the edge, but also more randomly and sometimes near the centre. These flowers, whose shape vaguely evokes that of certain begonias, bloom all summer, from July to September-October, and curiously turn green just before wilting. Take a few stems to make pretty dry bouquets at home and thus prolong the pleasure of this flowering.

Hardy down to at least -15°C (5°F), 'Starlit Sky' makes magnificent flowering pots when planted in a decorative container. A beautiful ornate terracotta pot, in the Italian style, will further enhance the romantic charm of this extraordinary bush. In the garden, plant at the edge of a bed, under the light shade of taller plants. It will accompany spring-flowering bushes in a mixed bed. For a unique look, plant 'Starlit Sky' with Corylopsis pauciflora, a rare bush that produces a delicate fragrant yellow flowering early in the season, even before the leaves appear. These leaves, which turn yellow in autumn, will contrast strongly with the dark green foliage of our hydrangea. Viburnum carlesii 'Aurora' will then ensure the transition with its white flowering in round bouquets with a sweet fragrance, while its foliage will take a beautiful yellow-orange colour in autumn.