Hydrangea arborescens Wild Hydrangea Seed & Plants
(hy-DRAIN-juh  or hy-DRAN-jee-uh  ar-bo-RES-senz)
Easyliving Native Perennial Wildflowers
Native Perennial Wild flower Plants & Seed for Home Landscaping & Prairie Restoration

Wild Hydrangea arborescens photo by cj

For other flowers visit the wildflower seed list , to order copy the orderform or 
email questions, comments, and orders to john@easywildflowers.com  
Hydrangea arborescens seeds are very small

Native Wild Hydrangea arborescens plants are $6.00 each plus UPS shipping   
(larger plants also available)

Hydrangea arborescens Wild Hydrangea is a very attractive native shrub with large clusters of small white fragrant flowers.  Plant wild Hydrangea in the back of a perennial bed or use as a accent plant. Wild Hydrangea bush grows best in moist, humus-rich acidic soil in light to medium shade.  Prune back Wild Hydrangea plants in the fall or early spring to keep it thick and bushy.

Native Wild Hydrangea arborescens wildflower shrub occurs naturally on rich or rocky wooded slopes, at the base of bluffs, and along streams from Georgia to Oklahoma, north to New York, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri.    Hydrangeaceae (Hydrangea Family)

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The minimum seed order amount is $10, this can be a combination of different seeds.

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Easyliving Wildflowers
PO Box  522
Willow Springs,  Mo.  65793
phone-fax 417-469-2611 

Wild Hydrangea arborescens Plant distribution map complements of USDA, NRCS. 2001. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.1
  (http://plants.usda.gov). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

THIS AREA
UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Hydrangea arborescens L.
Wild hydrangea
Hydrangeaceae (Hydrangea Family)
USDA Symbol: HYAR
USDA Native Status: Native to U.S.

Small mound-shaped densely multi-stemmed shrub 3-6 ft. tall wild hydragea is often broader than high at maturity. The flat-topped clusters of delicate greenish-white flowers are the deciduous shrub’s main landscape feature. Some flowers are so heavy as to weigh the stem to the ground. Fall foliage is insignificant. 

Duration: Perennial
Habit: Shrub
Size Class: 6-12 ft.
Fruit Type: Capsule
Autumn Foliage: yes
Fruit Color: Brown 

Bloom Color: White , Green
Bloom Time: Jun , Jul , Aug 

Distribution
USA: AL , AR , CT , DE , FL , GA , IL , IN , KS , KY , LA , MD , MA , MS , MO , NJ , NY , NC , OH , OK , PA , SC , TN , VA , WV , DC
Native Distribution: S. NY to s.e. MO s. to FL LA & OK
Native Habitat: Rich woods; rocky slopes; stream banks 

Light Requirement: Part Shade
Soil Moisture: Moist
Soil Description: Rich well-drained moist soils.
Conditions Comments: Wild hydrangea suckers freely creeping over large areas. It is susceptible to sunscald chlorosis in alkaline soils and winter dieback. Many weak brittle canes are easily broken in wind and ice. Fast-growing and short-lived this hydrangea is often treated as an herbaceous perennial and cut to the ground every winter. If the canes are allowed to grow the naturally peeling bark is attractive. The plant will need supplemental watering in hot dry summers. 

Butterflies and Moths of North America (BAMONA)
Hydrangea arborescens is a larval host and/or nectar source for:
Hydrangea sphinx
(Darapsa versicolor)

Family Scientific Name: Hydrangeaceae
Family Common Name: Hydrangea Family
Scientific Name: Hydrangea arborescens
Common Name: Hills-of-snow hydrangea
Species Code: HYDARB
Ecotype: Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, Shenandoah National Park, George Washington Memorial Parkway
General Distribution: South New York to Ohio, Missouri and Oklahoma, south to Georgia, Lousiana, and Arkansas.
Propagation Goal: Plants
Propagation Method: Vegetative
Product Type: Container (plug)
Target Specifications: Stock Type: Woody plug, container shrub.
Height: Varies depending on container, use and site. 2-3 gallon container specimen: 36-48”; 2” plug: 4-5”.
Root System: Roots of finished plant should fill container.
Other Comments: Vegetation Propagation Method: Softwood cuttings are taken in late June. Cuttings are trimmed to a size that has a node at the bottom of the cutting with one pair of leaves at the top, dipped in a 1:5 solution of Dip n Grow, and stuck in flats of perlite under mist in the greenhouse. Cuttings root in a few weeks and are then transplanted to quart containers with a mix of Sunshine Mix #1, fine pine bark chips, Nutricote, and endomycorrhizae.

This native shrub is 3-8' tall, producing unbranched canes that are erect. Young tips of the central cane are light green and sometimes pubescent, otherwise the cane is woody with gray to brown bark. With age, this bark tears off into multicolored sheets, providing it with a tattered appearance. Pairs of opposite leaves occur at intervals along each cane. These leaves are about 4-6" long and 3-5" across; they are oval-ovate or oval-cordate and serrated along their margins. The upper surface of each leaf is medium to dark green and hairless, while the lower surface is pale green and either hairless or sparsely pubescent. The slender petioles are 2-6" long and either hairless or pubescent.

 Each cane terminates in a flat-headed panicle (or compound cyme) of flowers about 3-6" across. In the center of the panicle, there are numerous fertile flowers that are very small in size, while around the outer margin of the panicle there are a few sterile flowers that are larger in size (about ¾" across). However, sterile flowers are occasionally absent in some populations of wild plants. Each fertile flower has a short light green calyx with insignificant teeth, 5 tiny white petals less than 1/8" long, 8 or 10 stamens with long filaments, and a pistil with a pair of styles. The fertile flowers are either greenish white or cream-colored. Each sterile flower has 3-4 petaloid bracts that are large and white. The branches of the panicle are dull cream-colored and usually pubescent. The blooming period occurs from early to mid-summer. The fertile flowers are in bloom for only a short time, while the sterile flowers remain attractive until the fall. Each fertile flower is replaced by a small 2-celled seed capsule about 1/8" across that has a pair of tiny curved horns on its upper surface. The sides of the capsule are ribbed. Each capsule contains many tiny seeds that are flattened; they are small enough to be blown about by the wind or carried by currents of water. The root system can develop vegetative offsets from underground runners. As a result, colonies of plants are often formed.

 The preference is dappled sunlight to light shade, consistently damp conditions, and a moderately acidic to neutral soil that contains some decaying organic matter. To prevent a straggly appearance, this shrub can be cut back during the fall. A humid area with some protection from the wind is desirable.

 Habitats include shaded ravines, rocky stream banks in wooded areas, bottoms of bluffs and cliffs, low rocky ledges, and similar habitats in wooded areas. Wild Hydrangea is found in high quality natural areas. It is also cultivated in gardens.

 The fertile flowers offer nectar and pollen to a wide range of visiting insects. These visitors include bumblebees, little carpenter bees (Ceratina spp.), Halictid bees, masked bees (Hylaeus spp.), miscellaneous wasps, mosquitoes, Syrphid flies, thick-headed flies, Muscid flies, dance flies (Empis spp.), tumbling flower beetles, and long-horned beetles. The foliage of Wild Hydrangea is eaten by the caterpillars of Darapsa versicolor (Hydrangea Sphinx) and Olethreutes ferriferana (Hydrangea Leaf-Tier Moth). Some polyphagous insects occasionally feed on this shrub; these species include the thrips Echinothrips americanus, the seed bug Kleidocerys resedae, the aphids Aphis rumicis and Aphis citricola, and the larvae of the long-horned beetle Stenocorus cinnamopterus. White-Tailed Deer occasionally browse on the canes and leaves.