Good morning! Are you looking for diamonds? How about 'white diamonds' that grow in the garden? This little gem is one of my 'White Diamond' Hydrangea paniculata that grows in my new gardens and it is quite a gem indeed. Let me share some information about it so you too can have some splendid 'white diamonds'.
This hydrangea, like all paniculata hydrangeas, tolerates sun fairly well. In fact, my two are growing in full sun and have had no supplemental watering this summer. Unlike most paniculata hydrangeas though, this particular cultivar is a fairly compact hydrangea that has beefy leaves and strong stems. It is reported to grow to only about 4-8' tall and wide versus 10-12' tall and wide for most paniculata hydrangeas. This works well if you like paniculata hydrangeas because this particular hydrangea will not overwhelm a perennial or shrub border like most paniculatas tend to do.
I planted my two 'White Diamond' hydrangeas in a shrub border along the driveway. They are a middle of the border plant behind 'Raspberry Profusion' abelia and right in front of some plume grass. So far the hydrangeas and abelias are working well but I am not so sure the grass will work since it is much too tall for this bed, but that is another post. This bed was all planted last fall (with the exception of the grasses which were moved last spring) when I moved all of these plants out to the new gardens. Everything has thrived in their new surroundings-with no supplemental watering.
In fact, the hydrangeas-all of them not just the paniculata types--but also the macrophyllas, arborescens, and quercifolias--are all doing fantastically well. I will be preparing a post on several more paniculata cultivar hydrangeas so look for it soon. Cultivars to be profiled are: 'Vanilla Strawberry', 'Pinky Winky', 'Quickfire', 'Phantom', 'Limelight', 'Pink Diamond', 'Tardiva', and finally 'Great Star'. Can you tell I like hydrangeas? The paniculata hydrangeas are very easy to grow and reward the gardener with lots of blooms. The only problem they have is there are so many of them a gardener doesn't always know where to begin! To make things easy for me all of my paniculatas with the exception of 'White Diamond' are in one long bed. This will make comparisons of blooms and bloom times much easier. Most of the above cultivars are in bud now so once they all bloom I'll be back with those hydrangeas but don't forget this little gem 'White Diamond'.
There is something else I also love this time of the year and it is daylilies! I have a lot of daylilies in the orchard area and I am so happy to see all the colors. It is a rainbow to my eyes and each day I am in awe of all the colors. Coming from a mostly shade garden the change in plants brought on by full sun is astounding! I have to say thank you to all of my friends and family who have ever given a daylily and there are many of you-they are all here....
shining in the garden....with 'White Diamonds'.....