Bigleaf Hydrangea

Bigleaf Hydrangea
Hydrangea macrophylla 'Madame Emile Mouillere'
(hy-DRAIN-juh) (mak-roh-FIL-uh)
Synonyms: French Hydrangea, Sedgewick's White

I am not sure what happened to this Hydrangea this summer but it should have bloomed white. It may have been that this flower is aging with a little pink or the plant itself was mismarked. Having inherited this Hydrangea I am not sure if it was bought from a reliable source. The plant exhibits many of the characteristics of 'Madame Emile Mouillere' including the spindly branches and good cold hardiness and an excellent mix of fall colors. Even if the color wasn’t pure white we did enjoy the amount of flowers this shrub produced.

Growing Hydrangeas is something we are called on to do in almost every garden we care for. It really comes down to how cold the winter is here for the final outcome the next summer. I don’t believe in covering or wrapping a lot of plants but will add some mulch if the species is borderline hardy. The one trick for Hydrangea is the pruning schedule, don’t do it too late.

I have a gig at a local coffee house tonight. It should be fun. Here are some of the songs I have been learning (or relearning) over the last couple of days:

Let it Rain - Eric Clapton

Loser – Jerry Garcia Band (I am singing those two)

City of New Orleans - Arlo Guthrie

Sister Golden Hair - America