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Hydrangea serrata

Mountain Hydrangea

Pronunciation
hye-DRAN-ja sir-ra-TA
Family
Genus
Nativity

Japan, Korea

Growth Habit

Upright, more compact habit than Hydrangea macrophylla, with smaller leaves and flowers.

Hardiness
6
Culture

Sun or partial shade; prefers moist, well-drained soil. Acid or basic soil (acid results in blue flowers; basic results in pink). Prune after flowering since buds are formed on last year's growth; prune one-third of wood on annual basis.

Landscape Use

Single use as specimen or massed; containers; foundation or mixed border.

Foliage

Opposite, simple, lanceolate, ovate-elliptic, 2 to 6 inches long, 1 to 2.5 inches wide, acuminate, finely or coarsely serrate, dark green and usually glabrous above, veins beneath often with short apressed or curled hairs.

Flower

Sterile outer flowers, either toothed or entire; fertile inner flowers. Flower clusters either mophead or lacecap and range from blue to pink based on

Fruit

Capsule, not showy

Propagation

Softwood cuttings.

Pests
Mildew more common than on Hydrangea macrophylla.
Cultivars

'Blue Deckle', the petals on the sterile flowers are variously serrated, and at times give a distinctly frilly appearance, an elegant plant. Flower color is pale pink to lavender in neutral soils, blue in acid soil. Leaves turn reddish in the fall.

'Grayswood', the lacecap inflorescences have pale blue fertile to white sterile flowers changing to crimson red in fall. Leaves can be splashed pale green and darker green.

'MAKD' Tiny Tuff Stuff TM. One of the shortest lacecap hydrangeas, with double sterile flowers. Selected for improved bud and stem hardiness, it also consistently reblooms. Flower color ranges to soft shades of blue, pink, or white depending on soil pH, then age to pink.

'Miyama Yae-Murasaki', unusual lacecap clusters have double flowers ranging from rich purple to blue. This selection was first introduced as 'Purple Tiers'. Early blooming.

'Preziosa', globose flower clusters display progression of colors, from white, to pink rose, to purplish red by late summer. Dark maroon stems contrast well with the green leaves that turn red to purple in the fall.

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