Climbing Hydrangeas
Last year I planted four climbing hydrangeas (H. anomala spp. petiolaris) in front of my porch. This year three out of the four are developing flower buds! Why is this so exciting? Well, from what I've read about climbing hydrangeas, they are famously slow to flower. I had already prepared myself to wait several years for those pretty white lacecap florets. Now I won't have to! I am so pleased that they are happy where I've planted them. I put a lot of thought and research into my choice of plant for this particular spot, but now I feel confident that the plants themselves agree with my decision!
Front Porch Plan
My house is an ugly little mid-century ranch house: one story, boring symmetrical faces with small windows, vertically striped siding. The porch is a narrow concrete slab spanning the front wall. Door in the middle. Four pressure-treated 4x4s appear to hold up the roof. No railing. No columns or pillars or decorative millwork. Trust me when I tell you that it's a sad-looking front porch to come home to. Current budget and skill level won't allow for much in the way of improvements, but I came up with a plan that I think will hide the ugliness of the existing structure with additional supports and a painted latticework facade. The lattice should bring the face of the house forward while still allowing light and air into the covered porch area. I hope to have it all completed by the end of the year. Meanwhile, the hydrangeas have been establishing themselves in their sleepy first-year way. (First they sleep, then they creep, then they leap!) Give them a couple more years and they will shoot up that lattice wall and cover it with bright green leaves and tiers of lacy white flowers. In the winter the leaves are gone, but the peeling cinnamon-colored bark is revealed. They really are lovely plants all year round. |
| New flower buds on climbing hydrangea, almost one year after planting! ... Aaaaand an orange cat in the background making a silly face. |
Plant Points: Hydrangea anomala spp. petiolaris
- Hardiness zones 4 - 8
- Deciduous woody vine
- Climbs by clinging with aerial rootlets, not by twining
- Grows up to 80 ft. long/high
- Can climb up walls, fences, arbors and large shade trees
- Can ramble across the ground as a shrubby groundcover
- Lateral branches grow up to three feet outward from trunk
- Prefers moist, well-drained soil; tolerates clay
- Part shade to full sun
- White flowers in summer
- Blooms on old wood
- Exfoliating bark in winter
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