A Few Facts About The Oakleaf Hydrangea
The Oakleaf hydrangea is one of 4 basic hydrangea types, the others being the Lacecap hydrangea, the Annabelle arborescens hydrangea, the Mophead hydrangea, and the PeeGee hydrangea. For the most part hydrangeas grow best where they can get ample morning sun and some afternoon shade. The Oakleaf hydrangea does somewhat better if it gets a little more afternoon sun, but the other types generally can't tolerate too much hot sun. Hydrangeas planted along the northern tier of States and up into Canada will usually do well when planted in full sun. While afternoon shade is advisable, a hydrangea will not to as well if there is too much shade and will generally not tolerate being planted in full or deep shade.
While all hydrangeas need to be placed in soil which has reasonable drainage, the Oakleaf hydrangea is a little more picky in this respect, and absolutely must be placed in soil where the drainage is somewhere between very good and excellent. The Oakleaf hydrangea does not tolerate wet feet nearly as well as do the other types. The Oakleaf hydrangea will also perform much better in drier regions than can the other hydrangeas, and seems to do particularly well in sandy soil.
The blossoms on the Oakleaf are a very showy brilliant white, but the plant has more to offer than showy flowers. Its leaves, which are large and shaped like oak leaves, turn a brilliant array of colors in the fall, from red and orange, to yellow and burgundy. If the Oakleaf hydrangea receives a decent amount of afternoon sun in the fall of the year, the leaf changes will be even more dramatic.
Favorite varieties of the Oakleaf hydrangea include Harmony, Snow Queen, Snowflake, and Sikes Dwarf. Harmony has huge blossoms, so large in fact that they tend to get heavy and droop to the ground. Although the blossoms can be quite spectacular, their tendency to bow low keeps Harmony from being an overly popular variety. Both Snowflake and Snow Queen are extremely popular. Snowflake tends to enjoy greater favor in that its booming season is longer than that of the other varieties. Sikes Dwarf, also known as the PeeWee is a smaller plant and is best suited for a small garden where it will not crowd out other plants.
Color Changes - There are those who grow hydrangeas and like to experiment with changing the colors of the blossoms. The color many hydrangea blossoms exhibit is directly tied to the acidity or lack of it in the ground, and a hydrangea will often change color when transplanted as the plant adjusts to its new home. Some like to experiment by changing from pink to blue (changing the other way is more difficult), and do so most easily when the plants are in containers and the pH of the soil can be more easily controlled. Some have been successful in growing plants with deep pink blossoms, but no one yet has succeeded in producing a red blossom.
It would be a waste of time to attempt color changes with an Oakleaf hydrangea however, as all varieties of this type have white blossoms, and white blossoms cannot be made to change color. An exception to this is older Oakleaf plants may get a little color around the edges of the blossoms, but the main part of each floret will always remain white.
Other Hydrangea Types - As far as the other types of hydrangea are concerned, the Mophead is the one seen in most gardens. Most Mopheads are either blue or pink in color. "Annabelle" is a beautiful white hydrangea. It has drumstick-shaped flower heads that approach 10" in diameter, and is the hydrangea that takes best to pruning. The PeeGee, not to be confused with the Oakleaf "PeeWee", is a Paniculata hydrangea, meaning that its blossoms are panicle or cone shaped. The PeeGee varieties are generally quite hardy, even growing in Zone 3. The PeeGee also is somewhat tolerant of pruning, and in fact can be pruned into a tree shape, which cannot be said for any of the other types. The PeeGee hydrangea comes in pink and blue shades.