Buyer Seeking Oakleaf Hydrangea. Must look good in a nursery pot.
If you follow our Sticks & Stones articles, you know that as a buyer, my job is to find beautiful plants for you at a reasonable price. I think I do a respectable job at it. Lately, I have had some physical issues that have kept me from walking around as much but the salespeople at the nursery aren’t yelling about anything, so I think I am doing a good job. When I do head out to look at what just came off a truck, some things I do not look at. I just know they are fab. MAGIC!! Just kidding! No not really. Some nurseries do grow certain products that are always to die for, some other items may not be their specialty, so they need to be looked at. It doesn’t matter what nursery they come from, if it is a “Oakleaf” Hydrangea I am all over it!
“Oakleafs” are the one plant that I can say I have never seen a nice one in a pot. Let me rephrase: I have never ever seen even an okay one in a pot! Even when I was just the perennial lady I would go home and look at the stunning one in my yard and then go to work to get a couple more and ugh! It is hard to look at the plant and see what it will look like over the next few years. I have 2 in my yard, both trash outs (I wouldn’t even buy them they look so sad), but wow wow wow!!! One of them is a straight H. quercifolia and has been in the ground 30 years and has been moved at least once! The other one I forgot about until we had to do some tree, arb and fence replacements this summer! There it was! It must be a dwarf as it is not much taller than 4’ and about 4’ wide. She flourished but without great sun there is not great color (we didn’t even notice her, and she was 5’ off my patio). The original 30-year-old plant is about 6x6’ and has leaves twice the size of my hands! Not kidding and color OMG! She literally looks like flames from a fire. “Oakleaf” Hydrangea’s are always on my look list, I get so excited when I have ordered some. But am usually let down when I go out in the yard to look at them.
I have decided this is going to be Hydrangea year again. (A year where I focus on improving my selection in a certain plant) My goal is to find a nice potted Oakleaf! You are going to see some new flavors this coming year! My best hope is with a new cultivar named ‘Jetstream’. Coming in at 5-6’ tall, it’s claim to fame is sturdy stems. I have seen these in a “can” and they look good, the kind of good that makes you look twice and go ‘dang.’ I have seen them at different locations, and they all look good. I have high hopes for these. I have not heard of them being disease resistant, but I have not seen disease issues like ‘Alice’. To counter the trouble ‘Alice’ can cause, a couple of years ago I brought in some ‘Alice in Wonderland’, a 5x5’ Michael Dirr introduction. I have seen some large potted plants, and they are beautiful. I think what I like about these the most is the flowers (on very strong stems) stick out from top to bottom looking kind of like rockets. (Truthfully it reminds me of those centerpieces you get for the 4th of July – not at all in a bad way!).
I have small handfuls of a couple of other cultivars incoming next year.
‘Toy Soldier’ Bet you thought it was a dwarf!?!? It’s not. It will only do 4-5 x 4-5’, but it is supposed to stand up like a “Toy Soldier” on very strong stems. I also have some ‘Snowcicle’ coming in next year. It has 12-15” long panicles of DOUBLE flowers on a plant that will do 5-6 x 5-6. It is also known for its strong stems.
You will still see ‘Pee Wee’ (4’), ‘Munchkin’ (3-4’) and ‘Sikes’ (2-3’) for dwarfs. The closest thing to a “dwarf” I have found so far is the “Toy Soldier’. I have not seen anything else in a new cultivar and truly dwarf. I do, however, plan on something new in the dwarfs soon!
This year, we had a special order for some Proven Winner ‘Gatsby Gal.’ It is a brand-new cultivar and maybe a fabulous landscape plant. However, I have yet to do a double-take when I see them in a pot. ‘Gatsby Gal’ is considered a dwarf at 4x4’. It has large white flowers on very sturdy stems. ‘Gatsby Pink’ (6’) opens white and quickly changes to pink. “Gatsby Moon’ is a large “Oakleaf” coming in at 8x8 with big white mophead flowers I am going to watch these; Maybe give them one more chance. Maybe!
P.S. To those who pay attention to such crap. This is 30 years and 2 full boxes of staples for me!