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Hydrangea aspera Villosa
rough-leaf hydrangea
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Image © Gossler Farms Nursery
Image © Judy Newton
Image © Judy Newton |
Printer-friendly Fact Sheet
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| Outstanding Qualities |
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Hydrangea aspera Villosa Group hydrangeas are more tropical looking than other hydrangeas with large, velvet-like, dark-green leaves and flower buds that are large and knobby and deep-rose in color. Blooming August through September, its large blue-purple lacecaps surrounded by mauve florets seem almost iridescent in appearance. Bees are much more attentive to the rough-leaf hydrangeas than other hydrangeas. Hydrangea aspera Villosa Group works well in combination with hostas, pulmonaria, brunnera and hellebores. |
| Culture |
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Hydrangea aspera Villosa Group grows best in moist, well-drained, moderately fertile, humus-rich soil in full sun to partial shade. Hydrangeas dislike drying out so a little supplemental water is required during dry spells. Remove faded flower heads in spring after the danger of frost has passed, cutting back the flowered stems to a strong pair of buds. Remove misplaced, dead and diseased shoots. Mulching young plants with a well-rotted manure or compost in spring will increase its vigor. |
| Growing Habit |
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Hydrangea aspera Villosa Group is a spreading, deciduous shrub with lance-shaped, velvety, dark-green leaves that are 4 to 10 inches in length. In late summer this hydrangea bears flattened corymbs, 6 to 8 inches across of purple to rich blue fertile flowers surrounded by mauve sterile flowers. Hydrangea aspera ‘Villosa Group’ reaches 8 to 12 feet tall and is equally as wide. |
| Hardiness |
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USDA zones 7 to 9 |
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© 2009 Elisabeth Carey Miller Botanical Garden
Funded by the Pendleton and Elisabeth Carey Miller Charitable Foundation
Administered by the Elisabeth Carey Miller Botanical Garden