An excellent large garden or massing shrub featuring spikes of mixed sterile and fertile flowers which fade from pure white to pink, interesting foliage with spectacular fall color and papery bark; rather coarse in appearance, best used in groupings.
Oakleaf Hydrangea is a multi-stemmed deciduous shrub with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its strikingly bold and coarse texture can be very effective in a balanced landscape composition.
This is a relatively low maintenance shrub, and is best pruned in late winter once the threat of extreme cold has passed. It has no significant negative characteristics.
Oakleaf Hydrangea features bold fragrant conical white flowers with pink overtones at the ends of the branches from early to mid summer. The flowers are excellent for cutting. It has dark green deciduous foliage which emerges grayish green in spring. The large fuzzy lobed leaves turn an outstanding brick red in the fall. The peeling brick red bark adds an interesting dimension to the landscape.
Oakleaf Hydrangea will grow to be about 7 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 7 feet. It tends to be a little leggy, with a typical clearance of 1 foot from the ground, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a slow rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 30 years.