Hydrangea macrophylla Umbrella

The Hydrangea macrophylla Umbrella is a beautiful and recent addition to the plant world. It produces large, half-spherical clusters of flowers that vary in colour from bright pink to orangey pink to cream or greenish-white, depending on the soil. The sterile florets are semi-double and resemble small stars, which give the plant a light and airy appearance. This medium-sized bush has sturdy stems and lush, dark green foliage, making it vigorous and floriferous. It is best suited for shaded flower beds with non-limestone soil.

The Hydrangea macrophylla Umbrella is a relatively new plant in a series of hybrids called the 'Flair & Flavours Series'. These plants have prolonged flowering, occurring on both old and new stems. They are hardy and have strong stems, and their flowers are abundant. They result from cross-breeding between species, including H. macrophylla and H. aspera. They all belong to the Hydrangeaceae family from China and Japan.

The 'Umbrella' is compact and rounded, growing up to 1.20 m (3 ft 11 in) in all directions. It blooms from July to September to October, producing small, spherical flower heads of 18 to 22 cm (7.1 to 8.7 in) in diameter. The flowers are composed of semi-double, star-shaped sterile florets. The flowers will have brighter and pinker shades in acidic soil, while in neutral soil, they are more orangey-pink. Its leaves are opposite, ovate to elliptical, single, and saw-toothed, at least twenty centimetres long. The plant's foliage is ample, shiny, dark green, and deciduous.

Hydrangeas can live for at least fifty years.

The Hydrangea Umbrella is a compact plant, very sturdy in appearance. Hydrangeas are well known for brightening up the north side of houses. This one will be happy in an east or west exposure that is not scorching, in flower beds and as hedges. This variety is particularly suited to container culture, which can be placed on the terrace in a beautiful pot or near the entrance. Even though these plants are not fond of limestone, they are not, strictly speaking, ericaceous plants. Pair them with fuchsias magellanica, annual impatiens, or plant spring-flowering bulbs in front of their round silhouette. Enjoy their sumptuous flowering in the garden or in the house.