White hydrangea recommendations

Hi, I'm after recommendations for a white hydrangea please. I planted a Annabelle a few years ago and was really disappointed with it as the stems were too weak to support the large flower heads. We put supports in but really don't like the look of it with the supports so I have now removed it. I'd like to replace it with another white hydrangea so any suggestions of a nice one? I see there is a 'strong Annabelle' but is that any good i.e. Are the stems strong enough to support the heads?
Thanks very much

 

I have Hydrangea quercifolia (Oak-leaved Hydrangea) in my garden and love it. Good, large white flowers with interesting foliage, which looks good as it emerges in spring and shows fine autumn colours later in the year.

Blackstart

 

Thanks very much, I've not heard of that one so I'll check it out.

 

That's interesting and very good to know as I really liked the flowers, but not the weak stems! I've no idea why it is still available as who would want one if you can buy one with stronger stems?

 

Hi, here's a picture of my H quercifolia. As the flowers fade they develop a pinkish tinge and then turn a lovely dry brown. Stems are a nice shade of cinnamon.

Blackstart

Oops, picture seems to be on its side. Will try again.

Strange, it is the correct way up on my PC but appears on its side when I upload it.

 

depends on the type. cone shaped flowers, or mop head. My favorite is a mop head flowers are white, but the under part of its leaves are pure white, in a nice wind it flickers at me.

 

I find that everything is relative. As you originally discovered, Annabelle’s stems are weak when new so, for example, stem pruning is not recommended. As the stems get older, the wood gets woodier, stronger so the stem flops less so prune less or never prune except to remove any dead wood or to prune off the suckers. Of course, there may rodents that also “prune” some Annabelles to just short stubs but…. Sigh, oh well, as nothing you can do about that after it happens. To remove all the spent blooms though, you can deadhead them at any time. Peony rings can be used to help with flopping but, once Annabelle starts growing wider and wider, the peony rings are not as useful. Switching to the wild species is an option but you would have to like its lacecap-types of blooms.

Knowing it had this problem, I strategically placed my Annabelle close to the house where it gets full but bright shade and rarely gets any direct rain (it is protected by the house and other shrubs). That minimized the problem for me.

To help with the problem, get a patent and charge higher prices, new varieties were developed that had stronger stems. That is how Strong Annabelle originated. By the way, on this side “of the pond”, Strong Annabelle is called “Incredibelle Hydrangea”. There are now lots of those Annabelle “cousins” out there. Is there a catch? A small one. This new cousin produces blooms that advertising says are bigger than Annabelle’s. And while that sounds good at first, remember that Annabelle’s problem was too much weight on the stems when the blooms get wet. So, this improved Annabelle will help with flopping but, it is not perfect. Given thunderstorms with enough winds and water, Strong Annabelle with its bigger, more heavier blooms, can still flop. So take the claims with a bit of salt. If you want it, try it and see if it does well for you… and wait for several years to include years with really heavy rains.

Below is an example of the flopping problem with Strong Annabelle/Incredibelle. The first photo (the blooms are white) shows the new blooms and a plant of about 7 feet high or 2.1 meters. The second photo was taken several months later. After going through several thunderstorms, the stems were flopping on top of each other. Those blooms were starting to age so they turned from white to green-ish. So, if you get a hard enough thunderstorm, they can still flop.

OH-OH. Oops! I have a pair of before and after photos that I wanted to put a link to but I cannot post them because I am new and do not have enough "like's" (sorry!).

Something different: some of the new Annabelle cousins have blooms that are a shade of pink (not white) or lime (green). The pink blooms stay pink in acidic, neutral and alkaline soils… although I was told that the actual shade of pink may differ just a tiiiiiny tad between acidic and alkaline soils.

Something really different: you can switch to hydrangea arborescens varieties that have lacecap types of flowers. The wild species is an example. Another common one is Radiata aka Silverleaf Hydrangea (the leaves are slightly hairy and the underside of the leaves can be either silver or white). Others: Green Dragon, Haas Halo (very large blooms), etc. See redstar’s picture for an example. And again, please note that I am using the names given to the varieties over here; vendors in their own countries tend to change them. One caution: bees really like the lacecap fertile flowers so be careful where to place this plant… if you are scared of the bees.

Annabelle and its new cousins are rare mopheads in the realm of hydrangea arborescens plants. The wild species has lacecap blooms and there are many varieties with lacecap blooms… like the one in redstar’s photo above. There are also some newer Annabelle cousins with mophead blooms that have a more compact size, which may or may not help with flopping; some have either pink, lime or white blooms. They are quite new over here so not much is known about how they are doing but, I have not seen complaints (yet?). Wee White, also called NCHA5, gives white blooms but is advertised as having a height of 3 feet or 0.9 meter.

Oakleaf hydrangeas are also a good choice and you may just love the foliage in autumn. Depending on how much sun the leaves get in the cooler months of autumn, the display of reds, oranges, purples, etc. is outstanding! Oakleafs are the most drought tolerant of hydrangeas but their roots will easily develop root rot if they stay wet/soggy for “too long” so, make sure that the planting location has good drainage.

Many older oakleaf varieties tend to be very tall so also check the estimated height at maturity in advertisements. Something new: some of the new oakleaf varieties include plants that are compact. A short memory list of compact ones I know of (I am using the names used here): Sikes Dwarf, Pee Wee, Vaughn's Lillie, Ruby Slippers and Munchkin. Something odd: For the last 5 years or so -I am not sure if I have a micro-climate or what- but, two different oakleaf varieties that I planted in the back of my home stay evergreen all year (the others loose the leaves around the end of November or early December). Mild winters, global warming probably help.

You can also check out some of the hydrangea paniculatas. These bloom a tad later than Annabelle, have panicle-shaped white blooms that will age a shade of pink. Bobo, also known as ILVOBO, is quite compact for paniculatas (3 feet or about 0.9 meter). Paniculatas are probably the most sun tolerant of hydrangeas and are very winter hardy. But their blooms can be large, which again, can cause flopping. Pinky Winky tends not to flop.

If you want to stay with mophead blooms and do not get good resuts with Annabelle and its cousins, check out THE mopheads (hydrangea macrophylla): Blushing Bride is almost white but with a tinge of light pink or light blue & it “reblooms”; these white-blooming macrophyllas do not rebloom: Lanarth White; Princess Juliana; Sister Theresa; or Mme. Emile Moulliere. One concern: I am not sure where you are located but macrophyllas are usually more sensitive to cold than Annabelle and its cousins. By sensitive, I mean they may have winter dieback or they may not flower reliably if it is “too cold”. Blushing Bride is a rebloomer that gets around the "cold problem" by flowering from new and from old stems, which in theory, results in a chance for getting blooms pseudo reliably.

 

Below is an example of the flopping problem with Strong Annabelle/Incredibelle. The first photo (the blooms are white) shows the new blooms and a plant of about 7 feet high or 2.1 meters. The second photo was taken several months later. After going through several thunderstorms, the stems were flopping on top of each other. Those blooms were starting to age so they turned from white to green-ish. Thus, if you get a hard enough thunderstorm(s), Strong Annabelle can still flop.

https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/s111/llluch/0/Pic 1 Incrediball before the rains was 7 feet high.jpg

https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/s111/llluch/0/Pic 2 Incrediball after many weeks of rain storms and blooms fall on top of each other.jpg