We’re all used to the ‘normal’ hydrangeas with their summery voluptuousness, but another Hydrangea that’s fairly uncommon in gardens these days is the Oak Leaf Hydrangea, or Hydrangea quercifolia.
After a severe cut back last winter, the one in my garden has burst forth in abundance with a multitude of flowers. It may be the result of hard pruning, and it also may be the huge amounts of water it’s had fall on it from the sky over winter.
The creamy white flowers appear at the ends of the sometimes ‘scraggly’ stems so they flounce about a bit. The oak leaf shaped leaves from which the plant gets its name can vary greatly in both size and colouring, from green to rusty brown colours.
This shrub has grown quite vigorously, so it has produced very long stems which can look very dramatic in a vase. Unfortunately the flowers and leaves don’t last very long as a cut flower so I try not to use them with too many other types of flowers, so I don’t have to do much rearranging as they fade away.
I’ve been reading up on alternative ways to hold floral arrangements in place, instead of using the unsustainable floral foam blocks, so I decided to try to use the colourful, wired, decoration curled up around the top of the vase to hold the stems in place. I think it worked quite well!
The result of my floral arranging is quite large and very voluptuous, but some say there’s no point doing anything unless you do it large!
Til next time!
The Flowerpot Pen 