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Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Mariesii’
lacecap hydrangea
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Image © Richie Steffen/Great Plant Picks |
Printer-friendly Fact Sheet
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| Outstanding Qualities |
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Introduced from Japan in 1879, this beautiful hydrangea is still a popular garden plant and one of the best of the lacecap types you can grow. The very lovely and profuse flowers provide one of the longest shows with blooms opening in mid-summer and continuing well into autumn. The large flower heads have numerous, loosely-packed, graceful almost white-to-pale lavender-pink or the palest lavender-blue flowers blue sterile florets with small lacey central fertile flowers of a deeper corresponding color. The bold foliage is a great textural contrast to rhododendrons and azaleas. The lovely pale hues show well with variegated foliage or silver and gray leaves. Shade loving perennials like hostas and epimedium make a great foil around this proven summer bloomer. |
| Culture |
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The best growth is in partial to bright shade. A location avoiding hot sun will keep the foliage and flowers from prematurely fading or scorching. A fertile organic soil with good drainage and plenty of organic matter produces the best growth and flowering. Hydrangeas are not drought tolerant and will grow and flower more prolifically with regular summer watering. The typically acidic soils of the Pacific Northwest will cause the variable flowers to bloom toward pale blues and lilacs, for light lavender-pink flowers add lime to raise the pH and sweeten the soil. Changing the color can often take a few years to accomplish with more than one application of lime. For an accurate quantity of lime needed, a soil test should be done. Hydrangeas will bloom heaviest on one year old branches and to a lesser extent on new growth. Prune only to remove a few old twiggy branches to the ground yearly or lightly tip-back rangy growth to improve the overall shape. Heavy pruning can ruin the flowering for the following year. |
| Growing Habit |
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Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Mariesii’ is a compact, medium-sized deciduous shrub growing to about five feet tall and wide in ten years. It has a good vigorous habit with mature shrubs having a rounded appearance over time. |
| Hardiness |
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USDA zones 6 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