Tara Smith Bivin is a life-long resident of Ranburne, AL and so is the Tara Oakleaf Hydrangea. Bivin, who has a passion for flowers, has a nursery license and a landscape business. She comes from a long line of gardeners in the family. Bivin credits her love for plants from her paternal grandmother, Vernell Deese Smith, who was the curator of the lovely hydrangea that came to be known as the Tara Oakleaf Hydrangea. Looking at the plant tag placed around one of its limbs doesn’t tell the whole story, but the story behind this Alabama beauty is worth telling.
The Tara Oakleaf Hydrangea
The trademarked, Tara Oakleaf Hydrangea, Hydrangea quercifolia, is a shrub with huge, dazzling white panicles that begin to bloom in the spring. It would be a stunning addition to any garden, with its noticeable huge double white blooms. Its stems are sturdy enough to hold the panicles upright. It is just as beautiful as an accent plant or in mass plantings. Don’t be afraid to cut a few blooms to enjoy as a cut flower in a vase for your table. The colorful fall foliage also offers a nice surprise with rich shades of red and purple. It will grow best if planted in part sun to shade, and in well drained garden soil. When planting, leave plenty of space for this spectacular beauty to mature at six feet in height and six feet in width. This hydrangea is perfect for our area in Zone 7b and does well in Zones 5-9 as well. Winter hardiness temperatures range from -10 to -20 degrees. It is recommended to fertilize it once in the spring. This hydrangea may be pruned after its spring bloom time has ended or it may be left alone to grow to its heart’s content.
The Origin
Shane & Tara Bivin’s Cleburne County home is surrounded by hundreds of plants, shrubs, and trees. With the encouragement of her grandmother, the Bivin’s began landscaping their home 26 years ago, before it was actually built. Among the first plants put in the ground were two hydrangeas. These were gifts from Tara’s Mamaw Smith, who had propagated or rooted them from the hydrangea planted in her own yard since the 1950’s. Tara grew up next door to her grandparents and remembers this spectacular bush in her grandparents’ yard as the snowball or popcorn bush. Since Vernell Smith passed away in 1999 and the patent process began in 2012, information from where the original hydrangea came from was given by Tara’s granddaddy, Paul Smith. From his recollection, it is believed that Vernell Smith acquired the original plant cutting from a fishing trip in the 1950’s. Now, seventy years later, this hardy plant is still blooming and thriving at the original Smith homeplace.
The Discovery Process
Tara Bivin will be the first to tell you she did not create the Tara Hydrangea, although she has two planted in her yard, it has her name, and she holds the US patent for it. Her story is simply one of being in possession of one of the most beautiful oakleaf hydrangea blooms and being “in the right place at the right time.” Bivin worked for a wholesale plant grower for twelve years and generally took a bouquet of flowers from her yard to place on her desk at work. That’s where this hydrangea was discovered by a corporate representative, who had worked for the wholesale company for over forty years and had never seen anything like it.
The Patent Process
Mystery surrounded Tara’s hydrangea blooms with many questions like: what is it, where did it come from, is there anything like it on the market? The corporate representative insisted on a visit to see it growing in Tara’s yard. The blooms were sent to the plant development division at the wholesale grower, and finally to the plant patent office in California. Then more company representatives came to Tara’s garden to take cuttings. So, the research phase began to take place in 2012. Since it seemed that no other oakleaf hydrangea on the market seemed to measure up to this beauty, a new variety of hydrangea was discovered. The research and patent process took a few years to develop, and the next question was what the new hydrangea would be named. Tara would have loved it if the hydrangea had her grandmother, Vernell’s name on it, but the name “Tara” was chosen for this spectacular hydrangea. It was a few years in coming, but the patent process was complete in 2019, and Tara Smith Bivin, from Ranburne, Alabama holds the patent. The trademarked, Tara Oakleaf Hydrangea, Hydrangea quercifolia, is a part of the Southern Living Plant Collection and the first shipment went to a Lowes store in Tennessee in 2019. Fast forward to 2022 and the plant is gaining much recognition and Tara will soon have a European patent as well.
If you would like information on the Tara Oakleaf Hydrangea, or where it may be purchased locally, you may contact Tara Bivin at alwaysinmyyard@gmail.com. If you have other gardening questions, contact a Master Gardener Extension Volunteer at the UGA Cooperative Extension Carroll County office at 900 Newnan Road, or at 770-836-8546 and via email at ccmg@uga.edu.
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