Brown colours find it really difficult to be appreciated, especially in the garden. Unless we talk about garden tables and chairs - which more and more often look quite gaudy- you will not find a lot of examples of plants grown for their brown appearances. Thus all earth shades are almost absent for the whole year, except for the wintertime when everything around becomes more or less brown, which means devoid of life. It is not the fault of various brown colours to be totally neglected by our attention. Conversely, it might be our indifference to beautiful trunks, branches, stems, fruit and...flowers trying to appeal to us in winter. Although the flowers at that time of year are quite lifeless, their shape and colour might still look extremely attractive. So is the case of climbing hydrangea. Let us have a closer look.
Hydrangea anomala subsp. petiolaris or more simply put -climbing hydrangea, is a deciduous vine which can climb high up to 20 m (60ft). Probably that unusual behaviour is partly responsible for the little flattering adjective 'anomala', for so called "normal" hydrangeas grow in the form of decent looking shrubs. Its fast growing long stems cling to all vertical walls and supports with utmost ease thanks to numerous aerial rootlets.
In June and July the mature stems, already decorated with heart-shaped leaves, produce numerous inflorescences which look like flat umbrellas. They resemble a lot the inflorescences of elderberry. What is more confusing, both plants flower at the same time. Luckily, elderberry is normal and does not climb anywhere. After a closer inspection we can spot yet another difference. While elderberry produces only one kind of flowers, climbing hydrangea has decided to produce two: insignificant fertile ones, which contain both pistil and stamens, and sterile flowers with significantly big and ornamental petals. And that sterile flowers- whose role is to attract pollinating insects- are so good at alluring that they forget about time and space and stay almost forever on the plant doing their job non-stop. The only visible change is in the colour, they become beautifully brown. They fear neither strong winds nor biting frost, nor heavy snow. Some of the flowers show signs of weathering, paradoxically, they look even more interesting then.
Climbing hydrangea is an easy plant to grow. Its light requirements are quite low, therefore it can be planted in the areas with little sun, like north facing walls. The vine needs slightly acid soil with a lot of moisture retaining peat. Even short dry spells can be detrimental, so be prepared for additional watering. What else? The supporting walls or trees or poles, of course. Without them climbing hydrangea cannot climb and will not flower. And without its flowers, we will not be able to experience all wonderful shades of earth: brown, copper, ochre, sienna, sepia, umber and so on, and so on and so on.
I would like to thank my friend Piotr for the excellent choice of music accompanying today's heroine.
In June and July the mature stems, already decorated with heart-shaped leaves, produce numerous inflorescences which look like flat umbrellas. They resemble a lot the inflorescences of elderberry. What is more confusing, both plants flower at the same time. Luckily, elderberry is normal and does not climb anywhere. After a closer inspection we can spot yet another difference. While elderberry produces only one kind of flowers, climbing hydrangea has decided to produce two: insignificant fertile ones, which contain both pistil and stamens, and sterile flowers with significantly big and ornamental petals. And that sterile flowers- whose role is to attract pollinating insects- are so good at alluring that they forget about time and space and stay almost forever on the plant doing their job non-stop. The only visible change is in the colour, they become beautifully brown. They fear neither strong winds nor biting frost, nor heavy snow. Some of the flowers show signs of weathering, paradoxically, they look even more interesting then.
Climbing hydrangea is an easy plant to grow. Its light requirements are quite low, therefore it can be planted in the areas with little sun, like north facing walls. The vine needs slightly acid soil with a lot of moisture retaining peat. Even short dry spells can be detrimental, so be prepared for additional watering. What else? The supporting walls or trees or poles, of course. Without them climbing hydrangea cannot climb and will not flower. And without its flowers, we will not be able to experience all wonderful shades of earth: brown, copper, ochre, sienna, sepia, umber and so on, and so on and so on.
I would like to thank my friend Piotr for the excellent choice of music accompanying today's heroine.
Jarek
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