The Best Types of Hydrangeas to Grow in Your Garden

Hydrangea varieties to grow in your garden

Mobheads and lacecaps and oakleaves, oh! Each of these types of hydrangeas offers large, rugged blooms in easy-care plants that make beautiful additions to your landscape. But there are tons of varieties to choose from, with different colors, leaves, growth patterns, and sizes. And, exciting new genres keep popping up, each one sounding better than the next.

When trying to pick the best type of hydrangea for your garden, where do you start? You have come to the right place. This straightforward guide will help you find the best hydrangea for your garden's soil conditions, sun and shade levels, and humidity levels.

Hydrangea varieties are best for full sun

While many types of hydrangeas thrive in shade, panicle hydrangeas (Hydrangea paniculata) are best for growing in full sun. These summer-blooming shrubs produce large clusters of white flowers for several weeks. Pale flowers fade to pink or red before drying to brown. In many areas, the flowers on the plant dry up in the fall and continue to be beautiful throughout much of the winter. Hydrangea paniculata is one of the hardiest species; It grows in zones 4-8.

Best panicle hydrangea varieties

'Grandiflora' is sometimes called beige hydrangea. It is a large shrub or small hydrangea tree up to 20 feet tall.

'Limelight' has pale lime-green flowers from mid-summer to fall. Grows eight feet tall.

Vanilla strawberry (Hydrangea paniculata 'Rehni') bears large clusters of white flowers that fade to strawberry pink from mid-summer to fall. It grows about seven feet tall.

Best varieties of hydrangea for cold weather

Gentle hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens), sometimes called Hills of Snow or Snowball hydrangea, is a particularly easy-to-grow variety native to North America. It bears clusters of pure white flowers from mid-summer to autumn; Older flowers often turn green before turning brown and dry.

This extra hardy type of hydrangea thrives in zones 3-9 in partial shade. Although it can take cold weather, it is not very drought tolerant, especially if it is in a location with afternoon sun. Be sure to water during dry periods and add two to four inches of mulch to the soil around the base to help slow evaporation.

Popular soft hydrangea varieties

'Annabel' has extra large clusters of white flowers. It grows up to five feet tall.

'White Dome' has fluffy clusters of creamy-white flowers. It grows six feet tall and is hardy in zones 4-9.

Best varieties of hydrangea for low maintenance

Elegant oakleaf hydrangea is one of the easiest varieties to grow. It is one of the most attractive thanks to its large clusters of summer white flowers, attractive peeling bark, and tough leaves that turn brilliant purple-red colors in autumn. Oakleaf hydrangea grows to about eight feet tall, making it an excellent choice for providing summer privacy or as a backdrop in a shade garden.

Like the gentle hydrangea, the oakleaf is native to North America and prefers a spot in partial shade or even full shade. It stands up to drier soils a little better than other varieties but still appreciates extra water during droughts. Oakleaf hydrangea is hardy in zones 5-9.

Favorite oakleaf hydrangea varieties

'Alice' offers extra large flowers and a very spectacular fall color. It grows up to 10 feet tall.

'Little Honey' has golden-yellow leaves and clusters of white summer flowers. It grows four feet tall.

'Snowflake' has double white flowers. Grows eight feet tall.

Best varieties of hydrangea for season-long color

Beautiful blue and pink blooming bigleaf hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla) bloom once a year, usually in June. But plant breeders are hard at work, and their efforts are paying off in a new variety of hydrangea: revivals. Series such as Endless Summer and Let's Dance offer large, colorful mophead or lacecap-type blooms every few weeks during summer and fall. Many of these varieties offer beautiful fall foliage and are hardy in zones 5-9.

Reblooming hydrangeas prefer a location that receives morning sun and afternoon shade. They are not very drought tolerant, so keep them moist but well-watered Perform best in loamy soils. You should give them extra water during dry periods. Otherwise, cutting off the fading flowers will encourage the plant to produce more flowers.