Hydrangea identification involves an eye to detail . Look at the leave : how great are they , and what is their shape and colouring ? Hydrangea varieties differ in leaf hue and texture . The flower gloss and show can be quite unlike as well . Is it a vine ? The mounting hydrangea foliage looks very different from its cousins . You might not recognize the oak - shape leaf of the oakleaf hydrangea until you glimpse the conic flower shape ( panicle ) that is similar to the pee gee hydrangea in a neighbor ’s yard . Once you get the difference in your mind , you ’ll be able to colligate names with plant life .

Step 1

determine to see the size , gloss and grain of the leafage . Bigleaf hydrangea ( Hydrangea macrophylla ) have obscure unripe , shining folio that , as the name suggest , are big and substantial .

Step 2

bet at the heyday form . Bigleafs can be mopheads with heavy round flower or lacecaps , which are flat in the kernel with a ring of petals on the exterior . Sandra Mason drop a line for the University of Illinois Extension describes them as having " bewildering peach , " perhaps because the colors and blossom size can be so stunning . They come in colors that start the gamut from pink , regal and down .

Step 3

Check the foliage again if you ’re sure that the plant life is not one of the bigleaf hydrangeas . If it is like to a bigleaf , but the leaves are not as substantial and have less rigidity , it may be a smooth hydrangea variety ( Hydrangea arborescens ) . " Annabelle " is a well - known diversity , often called the " snowball " hydrangea , according to Judith King of the hydrangeashydrangeas internet site . The leaf are pump - shape and the mophead blooms open up green , plow white and then back to honey oil .

Step 4

If you ’re a little confused by the oak - leaf shape , do n’t be . If the oakleaf hydrangea ( Hydrangea quercifolia ) is flowering , you ’ll know you ’re not looking at an immature shade tree . Michele Brown writing for the Cobb County Extension Service in Georgia draw the panicle as 12 to 14 in long and the flower color set out out white and fading to pink .

Step 5

If it ’s a pee gee hydrangea ( Hydrangea paniculata ) , the leaves will be smaller and " rougher " and have a key signature dimension of three leaves around a base guest , according to Judith King . The flowers are panicles as well , starting out white-hot and fading to pink . This hydrangea is the only one that can be in a Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree form , but it must be trained .

Step 6

Look at the plant overall . The climb hydrangea ( Hydrangea anomala ) , for example , is a vine with belittled glossy green leaves and has large livid flower similar to a lacecap . It self - attaches to a wall or tree and can have a across-the-board paste .

Tip

Do n’t be confused by the differences of pink or blue of the bigleaf hydrangeas as this reflects the alkalinity ( pink ) or the acidity ( blue ) in the stain . apply burnt lime or aluminum sulfate for desired affect . See Michele Brown ’s suggestions in the Walter Reeve ’s article for software program for hope effect . Read recording label of any intersection before applying . Bigleaf hydrangeas blossom on old wood and should be rationalise only right after flowering . Oakleaf hydrangea flower later than the bigleaf . It seldom need rationalise , but if it does , prune after flowering . fluid hydrangeas and pee gee blossom on newfangled wood .

Warning

Take out dead peg but not live staunch from your bigleaf hydrangea in the bound , to keep bud . Do not overtreat bigleaf hydrangea with aluminum sulfate as this will keep the plant from originate , harmonise to Sandra Mason . Judith King recommends buy " Annabelle " only when it is in flower , as sometimes plants are mistakenly labeled and the flowers are lacecap and count more like the wild hydrangea .

References

…

…