Smooth Hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens)

Smooth Hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens)

Regular price $39.00
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3 Gallon (cut back to 8-10")

Exposure: Partial Sun-Shade
Soil:
Medium-Medium Wet
Mature Height:
6 feet
Mature Width:
8 feet
Blooms:
June-July

Notable Features:  Great for a foundation planting, hedge, massing, mixed border, or as a specimen shrub. Spreads by underground clonal rhizomes and will form colonies, but not aggressively. The preference is dappled sunlight to light shade, consistently damp conditions, and soil with some organic matter. Can handle some flooding and compacted soils. To prevent a straggly appearance, this shrub can be cut back during the autumn. A humid area with some protection from the wind is desirable. This Hydrangea is not native to northern Illinois, but is found in central and southern parts of the state. Because of this, we don't recommend this shrub for restoration purposes in northern Illinois, but is suitable for home garden use. 

 Attracts: The fertile flowers offer nectar and pollen to a wide range of visiting insects. These visitors include bumblebees, little carpenter bees (Ceratina spp.), Halictid bees, masked bees (Hylaeus spp.), miscellaneous wasps, mosquitoes, Syrphid flies, thick-headed flies, Muscid flies, dance flies (Empis spp.), tumbling flower beetles, and long-horned beetles. The foliage of Wild Hydrangea is eaten by the caterpillars of Darapsa versicolor (Hydrangea Sphinx) and Olethreutes ferriferana (Hydrangea Leaf-Tier Moth). Some polyphagous insects occasionally feed on this shrub; these species include the thrips Echinothrips americanus, the seed bug Kleidocerys resedae, the aphids Aphis rumicis and Aphis citricola, an the larvae of the long-horned beetle Stenocorus cinnamopterus. White-tailed Deer occasionally browse on the canes and leaves.