Autumn hydrangea, which flowers in late summer, is a popular shrub. In addition to the showy flowers, the popularity is explained by the ease of maintenance of the bush.
Syyshortensia (Hydrangea paniculata ’Grandiflora’), also called lilac hydrangea, is a popular shrub in Finnish gardens. The merits of the bush are healthy growth and abundant and lasting flowering.
The flowers that bloom after midsummer are cone-shaped. The inflorescence changes color in the middle of flowering, first the white flowers turn red towards autumn.
Autumn hydrangea is suitable as a single bush, in groups, as a fence or as a frame flower tree to highlight the yard.
The shrub can grow 2–3 meters high and 1.5–3 meters wide.
Autumn hydrangea is an easy-care shrub
Autumn hydrangea thrives in sun to shade, but the best place for it is in partial shade. In a place that is too dark, flowering is delayed.
The soil of the growing place must be unlimed. The soil should be permeable, not moisture-retaining.
The soil in Finland is naturally slightly acidic, but it is still worth adding special soil for hydrangeas or acidic soil intended for conifers and rhododendrons to the soil for planting hydrangeas.
Watering is only needed during the rooting period of the seedlings. Later, the bush will manage on its own.
The spring fertilizer applied to the root zone of the plant in the spring and the autumn fertilizer applied at the end of the summer help the bush to bloom and grow.
Autumn hydrangea is winter hardy all the way to central Finland
The shrub is recommended for zones I–IV (V).
Winter hardiness is improved by the right growing place and growing medium. Snow is a good protection against frost, but on the other hand, the branches of autumn hydrangea break easily from the weight of snow.
The shrub is best suited to southern and central Finland, where you can enjoy its late flowering for a long time.
Thoughtful it is not necessary to ever cut
The bush can be allowed to grow into its natural shape into a round bush. Only dead branches should always be cut.
If it is necessary to cut, it should be done in the spring before the buds break. Alternatively, cutting can be left until autumn, when flowering has ended.
The old flowers are allowed to stay in their place in autumn, when they decorate the yard in winter. The flowers can also be collected as ingredients for autumn and Christmas wreaths.
Autumn hydrangea blooms on the shoots of the same summer, so the flowering is not lost, even if the bush is cut every year.
You can cut whole branches from the bush up to the base, which results in fewer flowers, but they grow bigger. If you shorten all the branches a little, the flowers will be denser, but they will be smaller.
Always leave at least 1–2 visible buds on each branch to be stored, so the bush can grow them into branches.
You shouldn’t try to renew autumn hydrangea by cutting it down. Very old branches rarely produce new buds and branches.
A full-bodied fall hydrangea by cutting yourself or from the store
Autumn hydrangea can be grown into a small tree with a frame or you can buy a ready-made seedling with a frame. A flowering small tree is suitable, for example, as the highlight of a large group of perennials.
A trunk seedling is grown in such a way that one strong upward branch is selected as the main shoot. The other branches are cut off up to the base, and the lowest side shoots of the shoot chosen as the trunk are removed.
Growing a solid sapling yourself takes time, so it’s easier to get a more expensive but already solid tree.
Source: kotiliesi.fi
