Gardening Topic for August 2008
Meet Annabelle

Provided by the Western Massachusetts Master Gardener Association
www.wmassmastergardeners.org.

One of the most frequently asked questions on the Master Gardener hotline and at the Big E each year is: “Why doesn’t my hydrangea bloom?”

And the answer is complicated. There are many varieties of hydrangea. Some bloom on old wood (they won’t bloom if pruned); some on new wood (you should have pruned); some need more sun than others, and on and on. And most of the questioners have no idea which variety and type of hydrangea they are growing in their yard. “Oh, it’s white,” or, “I think the flowers should be blue,” or “I’m not sure, I got it at Home Depot at the end of the season.”

And some don’t know the variety because it was in the yard when they purchased the home.

That was what happened to me. When we bought our home in 1995 (it was built in 1944), the landscaping had been neglected for 20 years or so (I’m guessing, but the former owner died at the age of 90, and the house was vacant for several years). All the bushes were seriously overgrown, and two huge sections of the backyard were full of hydrangeas.

They were very tall (5 to 6 feet), with white flowers shaped like lopsided umbrellas. I had no idea of variety.
I liked them. I liked the fact that they made a great natural privacy barrier. I like the flowers, though they were hard to arrange in a vase because of the lopsided tops. I liked bringing them in to dry for winter arrangements. I liked their hardiness: I never watered them; hardly ever fed them, and they bloomed reliably year after year. I liked the fact that birds nested in them, too.

But I knew I did not need so MANY hydrangeas. I called a few garden centers to see if they might want these really spectacular, full-grown plants. But no one did. So I decided to dig out one section, and quickly discovered that I had bitten off way more than I could chew, so to speak. Though they give the impression of being shrubs, these are herbaceous plants. You can cut the stems to the ground and they will grow back. They spread like a perennial plant, sending up new stems around the parent plant. I had a jungle of stems, each with roots that were very deep and difficult to dig out. And I feared that if I did not dig out the entire root system, the plants would grow back. At one point I’m sure my new neighbors thought I was burying my husband, my hole was that big and deep.

But in the end I won. I got them all out of the back section of my yard, and planted a vegetable garden.
The second huge clump of hydrangeas I let grow for another 5 or 6 years before deciding to remove them. It was a fall weekend and I had help from my sister. But by this time I had learned a thing or two. We cut them to the ground, dug out some of the biggest root systems (the mother plants), planted daffodils in the holes, and waited until spring. Then I recruited my son to help me dig out the rest of the mother plants. I left the young shoots. These I have been cutting to the ground each time they start to grow. Eventually the roots will stop producing stems.

I am enjoying the new section of yard and I am filling it with smaller shrubs and perennials, but I miss having hydrangeas.

So I did some research, and found Annabelle.

I know now that the hydrangeas that came with my house are Hydrangea arborescens, or wild hydrangeas. They are native to the woodlands of Southern New England, through the Midwest and down to the Southern states. Mine might have been a cultivar known as ‘Hills of Snow’.

‘Annabelle’ is a cultivar that was developed by Prof. J.C. McDaniel of the University of Illinois.

Annabelle is my hydrangea, only better. It often produces flowerheads over 10” in diameter and not lopsided. And unlike the better-known blue and pink hydrangeas (macrophyllas), Annabelle blooms every year even after severe pruning or intensely cold winters.

‘Annabelle’ makes a great hedge (I can attest to that) or a beautiful accent plant.

It is hardy even into Zones 2 and 3 in the United States (authorities say to Zone 3) and is easily grown in average, medium wet, well-drained soil in part shade. I’ve read that Annabelle is intolerant of drought, with foliage tending to decline considerably in dryish conditions, but as I mentioned earlier, I never watered mine. (Always water newly planted bushes, however).

This species blooms on new wood, and may be pruned back close to the ground in late winter each year to revitalize and to encourage vigorous stem growth and best form. Plants may die to the ground in harsh winters. If not pruned back, any weakened and/or damaged stems should be removed in early spring.
‘Annabelle’ has a rounded habit and grows 3’-5’ tall. Clusters of sterile white flowers appear in huge, symmetrical, rounded heads (corymbs), which can grow 8”-12” across. It blooms in June for up to two months (mine is still blooming as I write this near the end of July, though the blossoms are now a light lime green), sometimes with a small repeat bloom in the fall.

Although ‘Annabelle’ stems are erect, the heaviness of the flower heads, particularly after heavy rain, can cause the heads to droop to the ground and thus require staking. Pruning stems back to the ground in late winter each year helps promote stem vigor. Annabelle prefers morning sun and afternoon shade, but will do well in shade as well.

If I want to dry the flowers for winter arrangements, I pick long stems and put them in a vase with an inch or so of water. The water will dry up, and the stems and flowers will dry and turn an attractive parchment color. Dried hydrangea flowers last for years.

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Provided by the Western Massachusetts Master Gardener Association
www.wmassmastergardeners.org