Welcome to Grow for Me Gardening! In this video, we take you on a full tour of the hydrangeas in our Zone 5B/6A garden — with over 180 plants and more than 35 varieties, it’s safe to say we’re obsessed! 🌿
Whether you’re new to hydrangeas or looking for the best varieties for your space, we cover everything from panicle hydrangeas (like Limelight and Quick Fire) to smooth leaf, oakleaf, bigleaf, and mountain hydrangeas — including Proven Winners favorites like Let’s Dance Sky View, Invincibelle Sublime, and more.
You’ll get care tips, pruning advice, and learn which types bloom on old wood vs. new wood, which thrive in sun or part shade, and how to keep your hydrangeas healthy and happy all season long.
This was one of our earliest videos — and while our editing has come a long way, the plant knowledge still holds up! 🌸
If you’re looking to grow stunning hydrangeas in a cold climate, this is for you.
👍 Like, comment, and subscribe for more garden tours, how-tos, and plant love all season long.
Thanks for growing with us,
— Eric & Christopher 🌱
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hi everyone I’m Eric and I’m Christopher and we’re grow fromy gardening today we’re talking all things hydranges Welcome to our garden here in Upstate New York Zone 5B 6A we are thrilled to talk to you today about hydrangeas we have over 180 hydrangeas right now growing in our garden more than 35 varieties and we wanted to make this video to go through the different varieties how we care for them special tips regarding them and make sure that you feel comfortable growing hydrangeas in your garden the first hydranges that we want to talk about are the panicle hydranges we want to talk about these first because they were the first hydrangeas that we planted in our garden when we first started 6 years ago these hydrangeas sometimes called PG or Hardy hydrangeas these are the ones that you’re going to see bright white cone shaped blooms on sometimes they’re a dense mop head Bloom some sometimes they’re a little lacier more open you’re going to notice that they’re white some Fade to a pink some Fade to a deeper red color which is not based on your soil chemistry that is a genetic trait in the hydrangea they will change that color themselves if they want to some actually do stay perfectly white now the reason this is such a great starter hydrangea is because it’s kind of a foolproof hydrangea panicle hydrangeas bloom on new wood and what that means is they they put their flowers out on the growth of this season so they can be cut back pretty hard whether it’s by Frost whether a deer ate them whether your neighbor accidentally trimmed them down but they are still going to put out flowers for this year and panicle hydrangeas love Sun they are the most sun-loving hydrangea of all the varieties we’re going to be talking about today in the North like us they love being in the sun all day sun up to sun down further south or way on the west coast in the California Oregon area they might really want a little bit more shade in the afternoon let’s talk about some of the go-to varieties in our garden of panicle hydrangeas first up is Limelight Limelight is a classic this is going to get at least 8 ft tall and wide it’s going to give you beautiful white blooms that come out from this kind of limey green Bud they will fade to a bit of a Dusty pain color as fall goes on just a classic dark green healthy leaves love this hydrangea we actually planted an entire hedge of them there’s 15 of them planted 5 feet apart on Center and 4 feet from the fence and it is what made us fall in love with hydranges they are hearty in USDA zones 3 to9 the earliest blooming panicle hydren our garden is the quickfire Hydrangea and that’s what makes it really special is those of you that are familiar with panicles know that they’re kind of a mid to late summer Bloomer but quickfire for us blooms in June and we love that about it it gets about the same size as Limelight so 8 ft tall and 6 feet wide gorgeous lace cap blooms and very quick to turn pink yes and while it’s turning pink so early you will be amazed at what a pollinator mag the quickfire Hydrangea is Hardy in zones 3 through 8 if you thought quickfire was exciting the hydrangea that’s just over our shoulder will absolutely Amaze you this is the improved quickfire Fab quickfire Fab has almost identical statistics to the quickfire but it has the most enormous beautiful mop head blooms and what’s really cool is the fettes that it produces are star sh shaped traditionally they would be more like um like a daisy petal right like traditional four little petals but the quickfire Fab has enormous pointy star-shaped fettes which is really cool if you’re looking for a panicle hydrangea that stays smaller there are a lot of really good choices on the market one that we have growing at the base of our Gothic arch in our hydrange room are the Bobo hydranges we have two of them and they’re a nice compact 3×3 hydrange hardian zones 3 through 8 again the blooms start out a little bit green they get bright white but they don’t really Fade to Pink no they stay white which is wonderful if you want a smaller compact hydrangea that Fades to pink or turns pink fire light tibit is one of my top favorite miniature panicle hydranges we’ve had tons of success with panicle hydranges in our garden for us they start blooming as early as June with a quickfire like we mentioned earlier um and they go all the way through into fall until that very first Frost we think they are excellent for screening we chose our Lim lights because they got nice and big and full and Lush and from Midsummer all the way through fall they provide a gorgeous privacy screen for us one side note you definitely want to avoid getting their blooms wet that can encourage them to get a little bit on the brown side and you don’t want that to happen not just for beauty but also want to be able to cut and dry these flowers which both applications are perfect there is absolutely a panical hydrangea for every Garden there is the smallest panicle hydrangea the tiny quickfire all the way up to the largest panicle hydrangea the new Pinky Winky Prime if you are looking for easy care no fuss there you go with a panicle hydrangea my latest hydrangea Obsession are smooth Leaf hydrangeas also known as Annabel or arborescence now these hydranges are gorgeous they bloom white they bloom pink they can bloom green they are either mop head or lace cap kind of globe shaped blooms and what makes them really awesome for beginning or new gardeners is that they also like panicle hydranges Bloom on new wood these are absolutely the easiest category of hydrangea to prune you can bring them down to about 18 in from the ground every year we like to do that in Spring and as far as location they can handle full sun down to about down to part shade they do like a little bit of sun I would say but in our case we definitely give them afternoon protection we try to keep them on the east side of our house where they’re not going to get those real burning rays of the sun last fall we were so inspired by the beauty of smooth Leaf hydrangeas that we decided to install our hydranga room and this space has four different types of smooth Leaf hydranges alternating in a hedge it starts with invincibelle Sublime which grows about four to 5et tall and wide and of course it blooms on new wood like all of these varieties and it’s Hardy in zones 3 through eight that alternates with invincibelle lace which is the closest to the native hydrangea arborescence in North America also growing 4 to 5et tall and wide harded zones 3 through eight what’s really need about that one is it has purpley pink flowers and white fettes so you kind of get two colors on that same hydrangea Bloom also in that hydrangea hedge are incredible which the name kind of speaks for them they grow 5 by5 and produce enormous bright white mob head blooms and then the four is incredible blush very similar to incredible all but blush or pink colored flowers and that combination every time I saw this past summer early summer is when you know smooth leaves Bloom it was just stunning other varieties in our garden that we actually are able to keep in full sun unlike some of these varieties we’ve just talked about are invincibelle mini maette and invincibelle we white these are both small smaller varieties you’re not going to get such a big billowing effect but you get something a little bit more compact with we white you’re going to get a beautiful crisp white Bloom we actually have these right at the front of our house in full sun and they get overhead water still looking beautiful throughout the summer and then the mini maette it’s a little bit of a plumy tone and they have rebar strong stems and they do beautiful in the full sun so Annabelle that’s a great choice for you Annabelle or arborescence hydrangea is a great choice for you if you’re new to pruning have a little bit of afternoon shade and you’re looking to fill it with beautiful color like the arborescence the next variety of hydrangea we want to talk about is the quaia or Oakleaf hydrangea these are a four season of Interest beautiful shrub they are going to give you peeling beautiful bark in the winter time they’re going to give you tremendous oak tree shaped leaves they’re very leathery and thick they’ll give you gorgeous blooms early in the season and as those Fade Away you’re going to be left with a mahogany burgundy reddish foliage that’s absolutely beautiful what makes the oak leaf very different from the SM Leaf is that Oakleaf hydranges Bloom on old wood so you’ll want to avoid pruning Oakleaf hydranges at all costs you would only take out those pruners if you want to shape it or reduce the size in any way if you do that you will be forfeiting some blooms so make sure that it only is done if necessary oakle fyres also have conical shaped blooms they they can either be a lace cap type bloom or a mop head Bloom Gatsby pink for us is one of our earliest blooming Hy ranges and it does have a very pretty Lacy Bloom that the pollinators adore it grows to be about 6 feet by 6 feet yeah I would say and it’s a it’s a true solid shrub you definitely want to give this lots of room if you’re looking for an Oakleaf hydr with more of a mop head Bloom you’ll want to consider G G Moon Gatsby Moon hydranga gets about 6 to 8T tall and wide and produces enormous gorgeous bright white flowers the other difference between smooth leaf hydranges and Oakleaf hydranges is they’re not quite as cold hearty Oakleaf hyres are only hearty down to USDA zone 5 we like to cite our Oakleaf hydrangeas on the east or the north side of the house we want to protect them from the hottest part of the day we want to keep them from getting scorched in that you know really intense late afternoon sun I will say as a side note that these hydrangeas look terrible in the can when you go to a garden center and you look for an Oakleaf hydrangea if you see something that does not look that attractive don’t worry once they are set free from the confines of that container they are going to put those roots out and give you a beautiful plant for years to come they really are a stunning hydrangea for us they are the earliest hydrangeas to bloom in our garden and they are very reliably hearty so Oakleaf hydrangeas are a great choice newer to us because we’ve always been a little bit scared are big leaf hydrangeas or hydrangea macril and these hydranges are those gorgeous big billowing blue flowers you see on Cape Cod but they don’t only bloom blue they can also Bloom pink or purple or lavender or any shade in between all dependent upon your soil composition the more acidic or more aluminum is in your soil the Bluer or more purple that hydrangia may Bloom and likewise the more alkaline alkaline or the more lime in your soil the Pinker that hydrangea will Bloom just like Oak Leaf hydrangeas big leaf hydrangeas bloom on old wood so you’re going to want to avoid pruning at any point in time however you can dead head them and if you do decide to dead head your big leaf hydranga you’re going to want to go to the very first set of two leaves just below that faded blue these hydranges will definitely benefit from witer protection especially in some of the colder zones like ours however something wonderful has begun happening in the plant world ronty has been bred into some of the macril hydranges what does ronty mean reblooming so if in fact you do have a late Frost you have deer you have a mishap with your pruning you will still get flowers because these new macro have been bred to actually put new blooms on after that initial flush would have happened and one of those newest varieties is Let’s Dance Sky View which has been a tremendous success for us as we enter into this big leaf hydrangea world and what’s really cool about it is the buds have improved cold hardiness now that doesn’t mean that we’re not going to do our best to protect them this winter because we are greedy for beautiful flowers in our garden and we’re going to make sure that we protect them from that cold or that late spring fr Frost cuz that’s what’s going to nip those buds the buds are going to get tricked into thinking that it’s warm enough to start opening and they’ll start to open and that Frost will come and it’ll kill those buds we’ve seen it happen in the past and that’s why we’ve been so scared of big leaf hydranges in our colder climate so let’s dance sky view gets to be about 3×3 it blooms on old wood and new wood so it’s a re Bloomer in our garden if we don’t amend the soil at all let’s dance sky view is going to bloom a beautiful subtle pink gorgeous tidy habit I’m really excited to see how these continue to do for us the next hydrangea we want to share with you has quickly become my new personal favorite hydrangea that is Let’s Dance can do this hydrangea has this amazing ability to put blooms out on each one of the little nodes up the stem so you get just flower power like none other it’s a strawberry paint to a lavender purple it’s not going to give you a deep blue but it is an absolutely stunning more lace capped type flower and again just like let’s dance sky view it has been bred to bloom on both old and new wood and because the flowers all the way up this up the stem if that top is chopped off or eaten or nipped it’s still going to flower MH absolutely it’s been a very strong performer for us let’s dance can do is going to reach 4T tall by about 3T wide and it’s hearty in zones 4 through 9 not as cold hearty as let’s Dan can do is new for 2025 we bit innocent an adorable very small pastel big leaf hydrangea perfect for growing in containers not only because of its size but you can move that container into the garage over the winter to guarantee protection of those precious little buds in those colder climates what makes wee bit innocent really interesting is its pale color that it produces either a very pale baby pink or a very pale baby blue another variety that has just joined us this year is Let’s Dance lovable and honestly I love it the best part about Let’s Dance lovable is not only are you going to get hundreds of really really full beautiful blooms they are going to be an intense color you’re going to get get a vivid pink or a vivid purple which is in stark contrast to wee bit innocent which is always in the pastel we saw these live in person fully grown and mature at the Spring Meadow Trial Gardens The Proven winnter trials Gardens in Michigan last summer and we rounded that corner and our jaw dropped we were like we got to have that it’s incredible how many blooms they will put out you almost do not see leaves on these this was the hydrangea that we saw and we thought we’ve we’ve got to work harder and try harder for these big leaf hydranges yes so these are going to be about four feet by four feet and they’re going to be Hardy in zones 5 through 9 another variety of hydrangea that we absolutely adore in the garden is a cousin of the big leaf hydrangea the big leaf hydrangeas grow down on the shores in Japan and then up in the mountain is hydrangea sarata the mountain hydrangea these are another oldwood hydrangea you do not want to prune them if you do not have to prune them and these tend to be much more of a lace cap you’re going to get very open flowers I find that these are where you’re really going to get deeper purples and deeper Blues coming out of your plants beautiful green leaves the varieties that we have in our garden do rebloom which is good in case we have those late frosts and we tend to site them with a little bit more sun um we do have some that are planted in more of a part shade situation and they do not Bloom as well as the ones that bloom are placed in the um I’d say Parton so the first variety that we have planted in our garden is the tough stuff hydrangea the original from Proven Winners the pollinators adore this shrub we have a grouping of three in part sun underneath our Eastern red bud and they have the most beautiful purpley pink blooms on them it’s a really nice combination they’re going to grow to be about 3 by3 their hardan zones 5 through n and they are just a gorgeous lace cap variety another variety that we have in our garden is the tough stuff top fun always a tongue twister It’s a Wonderful variety it has very similar characteristics to the traditional tough stuff except that it’s going to give you a bit of an improvement in its reblooming and it’s much more of a Vivid Pink like a hot pink to hot purple kind of color it also has um kind of a cheerful bright green center as those buds are opening and it is supposed to bloom more prolifically or profusely than the original tough stuff hydrangea we are big fans of the mountain hydrangea not only because of the lace caps that the pollinators love but they have nice big bold leaves they have beautiful tidy structures they bloom well in full sun for us and the intense color is a must have for us in our garden before we end our time here with hydrangeas we wanted to give you three basic tips to have hydrangea success in your garden the first one is no wet feet hydranges love a moist well- draining soil but they don’t want to be sitting in water so don’t plant them in an area that stays consistently wet because hydrangeas have shallow roots though you’re going to want to keep them well watered and apply 2 to 3 in of a really nice mulch or compost to help keep that soil evenly moist but not wet we like to fertilize our hydranges in the early spring when we’re doing that initial pruning only for panicles and arborescent we also do give them a second you know maybe half feed around the time that they start to bloom we tend to use a granular organic fertilizer that is on the acidic side if we are trying to amend the soil to encourage more of a blue color in our big leaf or serata hydranges we’ll also add a soil acidifier that contains aluminum sulfate at the same time that we’re fertilizing in the early spring you can apply that a couple times throughout the season if you’re really trying to push them into more of a blue place for our second fertilization during the growing season we tend to use a liquid fish fertilizer and that we just water them in at the base with it smells really bad but the hydranges really like it our final hydranga tip for you today is do not be afraid to plant your hydranges in Sun a lot of people think hydrangeas are shade plants but they really enjoy Sun some varieties are more tolerant of shade those still need at least four hours of Sun per day but panicles and smooth leaf and mountains all these varieties will always bloom better for you in more sun preferably morning sun thank you so much for joining us today as we covered my favorite topic hydrangeas so if you have any questions comments leave them Below in the video make sure to like And subscribe again I’m Eric and I’m Christopher and we’re Grow forly garden thanks for growing with us [Music] [Music]
49 Comments
Great information! Planning a large expansion this year and hoping to add several hydrangeas!
Great tutorial! Thank you ❤
Hi there! I live in California Zone 9 . What is the best hydrangea for us . I have a shaded area and a full sun area. I want to plant both areas with hydrangea. My question is which variety survive in a shaded area?
Another great video!! Great way to start my morning.
Im so confused. You are the 100th video I've seen and I can't tell what type of hydrangea I have. I have one that is "mophead" (?) and blue. Another is white "mop head", though I think used to be cone shaped. That narrows it down to, what?, ten different possibilities? I'm done. Ready to dig them up. The blooms get smaller and less, but bushes get bigger…. cause, there's no pruning done. Old wood? New wood? Who knows?
Thank you SO much for this video! I will definitely be watching this over and over again!! So much information on one of my favorite plants! 😍
I love watching you guys! Very informative and I’m actually enjoying listening to the both of you. Keep up the good work. I’m a fan.
Very interesting, just wish I had time to watch it all. Maybe later.
I've been hunting for a matrix of hydrangea varieties and characteristics. There are so many to choose from it's impossible to keep them straight when I go to the nursery. If you ever find one I hope you'll share with us. Thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge. Luv you guys.
I just recently found your channel! You guys are awesome and so very helpful! Thank you so much! I bought a lot of hydrangeas, this video is just what I needed!!❤
I just bought a 'Let's Dance Arriba'. The specs make it seem pretty hardy, so I'm hoping it's easy to take care of. Im honestly more worried about the water situation. Hydrangeas in my area are dramatic; some need water all of the time, and some hate it. I live in zone 6a.
Thanks for the info!The macrophylla types bloom for a longer period, right? Thats what I am concluding now.
Thank you for all your wonderful news
The flowers are beautiful and so are you 🎉🎉🎉
This video is definitely the best video I have seen on hydrangeas . Thank you for explaining the different kinds of hydrangeas and how to care for each one of the different varieties. I do have 1 question . You mentioned if putting in a pot , it’s best to put in garage during winter . I live in Chicago , will the hold up to the code , and also, do you need to have a light on it . Thank you ❤
Fantastic video, I've really enjoyed watching and learning, this is the only video you need to watch the best video on hydrangea. Thank you it's much appreciated. 🥰
Thank you 🙏
Excellent information and charming delivery – I just subscribed
Awesome vid! Thank you very much! I just purchased the Limelight Prime, Love-A-Lot Pink, and the Bobo. My wife and I wanted to put more color in our backyard. However, after watching your vid, you inspired me to add more colors, especially along the fence. I bought and just planted some lilacs and peonies…so, these will be a great combo to start. Again, thank you and God Speed!!
You two are awesome…thank you
I love this video and know so much more about hydrangeas now.
I love the wee bit innocent color but it’s a little too small. Is there a bigger version or something similar?
I have Oak and Magnolia trees around my home. Is the acidity going to bother them? I’m new at this and need help!🌟 Your hydrangeas are absolutely stunning!
Thank you so much. I was taking notes. My first time planting hydrangeas. This was amazing.
I absolutely love and appreciate your info guys, I subscribed for more❤
I have a space that I want to plant limelight hydrangeas. It gets almost 5 hours of sun there,maybe 4 3/4 of full sun then sun starts to move and it starts at 1:30-almost 6pm. I live in zone 6 so sun isn’t too intense in afternoon. Wondering if this would be a good spot to put them there and if they will thrive with blooms ir will they get leggy from not enough sun? If not I can put a rhododendron there that takes full sun but it is next to a boxwood. Not sure if that will work. Any suggestions I’d appreciate it. Thanks for the great video. Love all the information you share. 😊
You two are wonderful.
Amazing yard and it’s so beautiful
❤Thank you so much for this video, very informative
3:09 Just 3 minutes in and I’m loving how informative this is
I LOVE this video! More Please!!! 🌻🌻🌻. I just planted 5 Vanilla Strawberry hydrangeas. Thank you for the growing tips.
Can we use Alum instead of Aluminum Sulphate? As their chemical composition is somewhat similar.
What are the type that Trader Joes sell? I have 3 out front facing west. The tend to get burnt leaves in late summer. Any tips?
You guys are great! Who knew there were so many varieties! Im new to your channel but it would be so cool for you to do a walk video and show us the varieties! Maybe a spring video a mid summer and a fall video so we can admire your beautiful hydrangeas!
Thank you so very much!!!!
This is by far no questions asked the best description of hydrangeas for what I say is New Jersey in New York. The knowledge base is the whole country. Thank you so much. I reside in central North New Jersey and I am in the same zone you’re in so I’m going to follow all of your suggestions and I’m going to be successful. I’m starting out with lime light, hydrangea, quote, prime register trademark.
Thank you so much
Molasses is a great organic fertilizer to use as well. High in potassium and phosphorus and also has calcium and magnesium. Also feeds the microbes that help plants absorb nutrients
“Grow for me” def said this to each other in the bedroom….
Great informative video! Enjoyed the photos of your garden and I am going to subscribe to your channel!
Are there any hydrangeas varieties that will grow in Florida?
I loved this! Very informative, thank you!
Hello how late can they be planted? I live in Colorado in the eastern part. I just love these. I don’t have much shade so it sounds like this
Hydrangeas would do well here. Love your information on these hydrangeas
Great video
I like red.
I'm in the seattle area and have lots of small hydrangeas, mostly blue or want to be blue since our soil is so acidic 🙃 thanks for all of your explanations and advice! This was a great video… just wish you were closer, so I could come see your garden!!
I'm looking for those that have both fertile & sterile flowers. I have old Quick Fires which are covered with pollinators and I want to get that in a tiny version. What I don't get is Quick Fire Fab doesn't appear to have fertile flowers? which is odd given I'd think it would be akin to QF. I snagged 5 Bobo on end of season sale which has been in my woods for 5 years in pots in a raised bed LOL. They're fine. But I the flowers appear all sterile to me. I've looked at Haas Halo and if I can keep that pruned down to 3 feet – I'd be happy. IDK if I can do that. Tidbit 'appears' sterile also. Finally 'Early Evolution' looks amazing to me but IDK how long the flowers last given it's an early bloomer.
I'm a hot mess with this!
Thank you. 🙏 very good video. Because so many hydrangia. Florida.
Great video! Thank you sooooo much!
Love the hedge…that is what I “envision” in the yard of our western North Carolina mountain home. The limelight’s throughout the small town we are close to are spectacular. I am hoping to plant them in our yard against a retaining wall which receives full sun. According to the plant guides you can plant them in the fall in our zone.