For those who appreciate hydrangeas, Southwest Florida is fortunate in that we may buy them in season in pots to enjoy indoors. Sadly, they can’t endure the elements in our climate zone outside. However, there is still hope for gardeners in this area who would like to plant a flower resembling hydrangeas in their landscape because the genus Dombeya has varieties.
The plants in this genus, which bears the name Joseph Dombey after the 18th-century French naturalist, are native to Africa and Madagascar and are frequently called by a variety of common names, including pink ball, snowball bush, tropical snowball tree, and tropical hydrangea. The variety of options available furthers the confusion caused by the many names. Red, pink, and white are all colors of flowers. You can’t have everything, therefore no blues.
The reasonably large shrub Dombeya can be allowed to grow unchecked for a relaxed appearance reminiscent of country gardens. The plant can be cultivated in containers and pruned into any desired shape.
We have two plants of Dombeya burgessiae, popularly known as tropical rose hydrangea “Seminole,” in our garden here on Sanibel Island. The USDA Plant Introduction Station in Miami first made this cultivar available for commercial usage in 1973.
Our specimens have grown for several years and are now about 9 feet tall. They have swiftly surrounded a privacy fence we recently put up because of their spreading, cascading behavior, which is being used to offer additional screening for our pool equipment.
As snowbird season also happens to be the plant’s prolonged blooming period, part-timers and winter tourists will also be able to fully enjoy the plant. You will have more blossoms the more light exposure it receives. Although once established, the plants are very drought tolerant, don’t have particular soil requirements, and don’t require frequent fertilizing, irrigation is still necessary.
If you want to grow more plants after purchasing them from a local nursery or mail-order nursery, you can take easy-to-root soft wood cuttings. Our Dombeya has not caused us any problems with pests. The plant has a habit similar to hydrangeas that have a similar appearance. Clustered flowers that form on the plant usually continue to grow after they fade and turn a light brown color. This progressively takes place, adding to the plant’s untidy appearance and making deadheading ineffective.
You won’t likely bring entire dried flower heads into the house since, unlike hydrangeas, the wasted blooms ultimately fall off. The Malvaceae family, which also includes hibiscus, cotton, and mallows, includes the Dombeya, which is an amazing nectar plant that draws bees and butterflies.
Our plants are covered in honeybees while the blossoms are in bloom, and the flowers have a beautiful scent. It is really rewarding to know that by incorporating this lovely flowering plant in our environment, we can feed our beneficial insects. Give Dombeya a try if you think you might prefer a little touch of hydrangea-like paradise in your Southwest Florida garden!
Erik Entwistle is a pianist, educator, and musicologist who resides and works on Sanibel Island. He contributes to TOTI Media’s Stay Tuned column. Growing fruit and vegetables using sustainable gardening techniques is a favored pastime.
In South Florida, are hydrangeas a good choice?
It might be preferable to cultivate hydrangeas indoors in pots due to Florida’s intense heat and sunlight.
I’ve been searching local garden centers for my favorite hydrangea plants ever since I arrived to Florida last summer. They are not, at least, in the “garden area. Inside the Home Depot, I’ve seen hydrangeas in pots intended for gift-giving or for use as houseplants. And I believe that they might thrive indoors in this hot, muggy environment.
The Oakleaf hydrangea will thrive outdoors in zone 9 according to what I’ve read, so that is one possibility. If I decide to buy it, it will be experimental because it is not precisely like any of the other varieties of hydrangea I have grown. Additionally, it lacks those enormously beautiful blossoms that mopheads have, making it seem quite green. The Oakleaf appears to thrive in shaded situations where it would receive filtered sunlight. Additionally, it doesn’t appear to be planted for its stunning blossoms.
What I do know is that hydrangeas thrive in morning sun, followed by shade for the remainder of the day. It will necessitate a great deal of watering in Florida during dry periods as well. Any hydrangea growing in the ground here would require a lot of water, in my opinion.
In gardening discussion boards, I’ve read that some people purchase the potted hydrangeas that are offered around the holidays and then store them indoors out of the direct sun.
The challenge with growing hydrangeas down here is that tropical plants often stay lush and green all year long. Because hydrangeas are deciduous, their leaves will drop off throughout the winter. They will therefore appear out of place in a Florida landscape. Since everything in the north hibernates for the winter, leafless hydrangea plants don’t stand out too much. Or, given the southern environment, will they retain their leaves?
Instead of growing hydrangeas, someone proposed growing camellias. Camellias are beautiful plants with a variety of blossoms, and I’ve cultivated them in the past.
Coming up are Easter and Mother’s Day, and I imagine the neighborhood shops will have some hydrangeas available for both of those occasions. It might be the ideal season to locate new hydrangeas for my southern house to grow.
My favorite hydrangeas in the north were Pinky Winky and the blue varieties, but having a potted hydrangea that is actually pink could be a wonderful change of pace.
Where in South Florida can you find hydrangeas?
You’ll probably discover that it’s too hot for hydrangeas where you live. Here are some recommendations if, like me, you want to give it a shot and see what happens. If you want to move it about to find the optimum position, plant it in a container. The optimum location is on a patio or garden area that receives morning and afternoon shade. Plant it so that there is space at the top of the container for both a layer of mulch and heavy watering. Plan to water twice day in-depth. Additional advice on growing hydrangeas in pots can be found on the Endless Summer Hydrangeas website.
In Florida, are hydrangeas difficult to grow?
What is your favorite plant? is usually one of the first inquiries after people learn what I do for a livelihood. That question can be challenging to answer because I’m a bit of a plant nerd! But I always come back to the same response: “Hydrangea. My fellow gardeners and I appreciate hydrangeas for a variety of factors. A hydrangea in full, billowy bloom is without a doubt one of the few plants that inspire more happy memories of summers past or lead to more impulsive purchases at nurseries. Few specimen bushes offer more floral punch while necessitating less maintenance from the grower. My own passion for hydrangeas began with my first attempt at propagation, when a softwood cutting of Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Nikko Blue’—taken with the assistance of someone much more experienced than I—seemed to magically sprout roots in a makeshift greenhouse made of a cypress box with a rusty, crusty sliding glass door. The hydrangeas got me. Despite having all of these positive qualities to its name, the genus Hydrangea is nevertheless neglected and underestimated in contemporary settings. Let’s discuss some of the best Hydrangea species and cultivars to search for at the nursery as well as the two main reasons why gardeners struggle and become frustrated with hydrangeas in the landscape.
First off, hydrangeas are known for using a lot of water. Hydrangeas are sensitive to water, as their name might imply (the Greek word for water is “hydor”). They merely show signs of drought more quickly than most other plants, which does not necessarily suggest that they need more or less water than other plants. This characteristic makes hydrangea an especially valuable indicator plant in the landscape. In general, hydrangeas wilt in the afternoon heat; this is completely normal. This is especially true for those that were planted in too much sun. However, the gardener will know that irrigation is necessary if the plants are still wilting the next morning. The plants could start to deteriorate if you don’t provide watering quickly after they inform you they need it. Consider this feature as an early warning system rather than a downside. What other plant shows such concern for us gardeners?
The second most common cause of hydrandea failure is poor site selection. In Florida, growing hydrangeas in full sun produces less than stellar results. All hydrangea species thrive best when planted in areas that receive at least some afternoon shade, if not filtered shade all day long. The negative effects of afternoon sun exposure include increased wilting due to heat stress, higher irrigation needs, and “bleached flower colour.” Never forget that growing the proper plant in the incorrect location is less frustrating than other situations!
Now that you’ve learned how to grow hydrangeas successfully, it’s time to choose the right plant for your yard! For the gardener’s consideration in Northwest Florida, three main species—H. macrophylla (Bigleaf Hydrangea), H. quercifolia (Oakleaf Hydrangea), and H. paniculata—perform notably better here than the rest of their relatives (Panicle Hydrangea).
When in bloom, H. macrophylla, the traditional hydrangea that everyone’s grandmother cultivated, stands out as one of the most distinctive plants in the shaded Southern landscape. H. macrophylla is an incredibly low maintenance plant, requiring only occasional irrigation and seldom fertilizer; H. macrophylla even tolerates salt spray and may be grown on the Gulf Coast! It has enormous “mopheads of inflorescences in stunning colours of blue (or pink, depending on soil pH). The majority of inquiries I get about H. macrophylla concern plants that aren’t flowering because they were pruned at the wrong time of year. Pruning once-blooming traditional cultivars like “Nikko Blue” as soon as flowering is ended in the late summer will produce the finest flowering returns. The wood from the previous season is where these plants establish their flower buds; pruning older varieties in the fall or winter may invigorate the plant, but it will stop it from blooming the next year. Fortunately, improvements in hydrangea breeding over the past 20 years have offered gardeners the option of planting remontant cultivars that bloom on wood from the current season. Remontant cultivars like “Endless Summer,” “Penny Mac,” “Bloomstruck,” and “All Season Beauty,” which are frequently sold, offer a similar early summer flower display to the traditional varieties but continue to bloom intermittently for the remainder of the summer. Even better, they can be cut back at any time without affecting the bloom display for the following season!
The natural Oakleaf Hydrangea is the next option for those seeking to diversify their hydrangea collection (H. quercifolia). Native to Florida, the oakleaf hydrangea grows untamed around the northern end of the Apalachicola River in steep, shaded ravines. The Oakleaf would be worthwhile to plant even if it never bloomed since it has enormous, oak-shaped leaves that may grow up to a foot long and give Floridians some of the best fall foliage color. The flowers, like with all hydrangea species, are the major attraction. This species has 8–10 white flowers in panicles that are carried gracefully above the rough-textured leaves. In addition to these qualities, Oakleaf Hydrangeas are quite simple to cultivate, reaching heights of up to 10′ and requiring only proper irrigation and some shade during the heat of the day from the gardener. Look for the cultivars “Alice,” “Semmes Beauty,” and “Snowflake,” which are the author’s favorites. These H. quercifolia cultivars and selections all do exceptionally well in Northwest Florida.
Last but not least, H. paniculata, the newest hydrangea species introduced to Florida gardens, has made tremendous strides in the landscape business during the past ten years. H. paniculata, which is primarily grown as the cultivar “Limelight,” solves some of the shortcomings of the two aforementioned species because it can withstand full sun and requires considerably less water, perhaps making it a more sustainable plant for many situations. Similar to the remontant H. macrophylla varieties, this plant blooms on new wood and even seems to relish a harsh pruning each winter; plants that have undergone this pruning appear to be more vigorous the following season and produce larger greenish-white flower panicles than those that have not. H. paniculata, in particular “Limelight,” is a valuable addition to any landscape, despite the fact that it is a relative newcomer.
You can see that there is a hydrangea for every yard, and no authentically Southern landscape is complete without a few of them. This summer, when browsing your neighborhood garden center, check for the options and species described above, plant them correctly, and then take pleasure in the succeeding yearly flower display for many years to come! Who knows, you might develop a love for hydrangeas as I did!
How are hydrangeas maintained in Florida?
The hydrangea is a perennial blooming shrub that is cultivated for its enormous, pastel-colored blossoms. The sandy soil in Orlando provides a difficulty for hydrangea gardeners. The University of Florida’s agronomists advise Orlando gardeners to grow Hydrangea macrophylla, also known as Bigleaf, French, or Florist’s hydrangea. One of the options is the Endless Summer variety. Hydrangeas bloom in Orlando in the late spring and early summer.
Give your hydrangea the right quantity of sunshine. Plant the hydrangea where it will receive afternoon shade because morning sun is OK but it will need protection from the intense heat of the sun.
- The hydrangea is a perennial blooming shrub that is cultivated for its enormous, pastel-colored blossoms.
- Plant the hydrangea where it will receive afternoon shade because morning sun is OK but it will need protection from the intense heat of the sun.
Make certain the hydrangea is planted in well-drained soil. Hydrangea thrives in water, but if the roots are always wet, they will suffer.
During the hottest portion of the summer, keep the soil moist but not waterlogged. At other times, let the soil dry to within 1 inch of the surface. Due to the sandy soil in the area, gardeners in Orlando will need to water their plants significantly more regularly.
At the hydrangea’s base, spread a 3-inch layer of mulch, being careful not to let it touch the bark. Spread it out as wide as the plant and keep it at least 2 inches away from the trunk. As a result, weeds will have a harder time growing and the soil will stay cooler in the summer.
- Make certain the hydrangea is planted in well-drained soil.
- At the hydrangea’s base, spread a 3-inch layer of mulch, being careful not to let it touch the bark.
During the summer, treat your hydrangea twice with a balanced fertilizer like 10-10-10. Apply the product at the rate recommended on the package. After August, avoid fertilizing your hydrangea. Feed your hydrangea every two weeks from March to November if you are growing it in a container. From December to February, reduce feedings to once a month.
If you desire larger blossoms, prune your Hydrangea arborescens (like Annabelle) back to 1 foot tall in late winter. Prune it to 2 feet or more if you don’t care about size and want additional blossoms. Early June is the best time to prune oakleaf hydrangeas. Nikko Blue and other Hydrangea macrophylla need to be clipped when plants start to sprout leaves in the spring. Just above the blossom, trim the stems. Anytime is a good moment to prune Endless Summer.
- During the summer, treat your hydrangea twice with a balanced fertilizer like 10-10-10.
- If you desire larger blossoms, prune your Hydrangea arborescens (like Annabelle) back to 1 foot tall in late winter.
When the first frost hits new hydrangea plants, cover them. Plants that are more established are better equipped to withstand cold temperatures. Cover even the mature hydrangea bush if the weather should suddenly turn cold or hot.