Annabelle Hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle')
hy-DRAIN-jah ar-bor-RES-senz 'Annabelle'

Deciduous Perennial Shrub in the Hydrangeaceae Family
 
Buy Annabelle Hydrangea
Size Notes Price Availability
#5 gallon Field

Height: 24"-30"

$28.00
#5 gallon Field $38.69

Teaser A showy, snowball-like stunner that steals the show in any shady summer garden.

“Smooth” or “wild” hydrangeas tend to grow to 4-5 feet high and sport gorgeous profusions of large pompom or lacey blooms, making them a wildly popular choice for privacy plantings, borders, or focal points in the garden. These shrubs grow extremely quickly and can actually be cut back almost all the way to the ground each winter, but don’t require shaping or deadheading during the growing season. 

 

Interestingly, these hydrangeas do not react to the pH in the soil by changing the color of their blooms like many other hydrangea varieties. Smooth hydrangeas always have greenish-white or bright white blooms that fade to a sepia-toned brown by fall and make gorgeous cut fresh or dried flowers.

Pros

  • Profuse, giant white pom pom or lacecap flowers (great cut fresh or dried) 
  • Prefer part shade
  • Easy to prune - just cut back to 6-8 inches above the soil each winter and watch this plant start fresh each spring!
  • Flower on new wood, enabling them to bloom after unseasonably cold weather
 

Cons

  • Require quite a lot of water and will show their displeasure at being thirsty by pervasive leaf wilt
  • Need at least a few hours of sunlight a day to put forth blooms
  • Start each year pretty much from scratch
  • Because the tender stems are near the ground, can be vulnerable to rabbits.
 

Plant Data

Mature Size 3 - 4 feet tall. 4 - 6 feet wide.
Growth Rate Fast
Sun Exposure Full Shade - Full Sun
Moisture Tolerance Medium
Zones 3a - 9b (Usually hardy to -40° F)
Tags Attracts Butterflies, Attracts Pollinators, Attracts Wildlife, Container, Deciduous, Edging, Extended Bloom Time, Formal Garden, Foundation, Full Shade, Full Sun, Good for Accents, Good for Cottage Garden, Good for Cut Flowers, Good for Hedges, Good for Mass Planting, Hard Pruning Late Winter, Low Maintenance, Medium, Most Popular, Nativar, Normal Soil, Partial Shade, Partial Sun, Perennial, Rabbit Resistant, Reblooms, Showy Flowers, Shrub, Thrillers, Tolerant of Moist Soil, Well-Drained Soil Hedges, Small Shrubs, White Flowering Shrubs
Bloom Period July - September
Flower Color White
 

Awards

 

Related Articles

 

More Info from Experts

Photos of This with...

Pauline Lily Redbud, Purple Wintercreeper Euonymus, Variegated Lily Turf, Ostrich Fern, Virginia Creeper,
 
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Pricing and Availability History

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Limited Availability

We try very hard to source exactly what you’d like, but sometimes growers run out of plants! While this variety is a great deal at the price shown, we know that it has limited availability. If you want the plant even if it might be more expensive, or in a different size or quantity -- after you place your order, just send us a quick note at help@northshoreplantclub.com. Then, we’ll try to get you some version of this from one of our growers. And if we can’t get it from anywhere, of course, we’ll send a refund!


Field-Grown vs. Greenhouse-Grown Plants

Plants which are well-adapted to our local climate are most often field-grown (outside). Field-grown plants are generally cheaper and have the advantage of already somewhat acclimated to our cold winters, but that means they’re not artificially far along in the spring and tend to bloom at the normal time in our area.

Spring annuals and tender perennials are typically grown in Greenhouses so they can be ready and luxurious exactly when customers want them. Some perennials are also “forced” into early bloom in greenhouses. In May, there can be a very big difference between field-grown and greenhouse-grown plants of the same type. The latter typically look good right away (so they’re a great choice where that’s important), but we typically pay a premium for it.


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No Pricing or Availability Right Now

We order from a rotating cast of the best nurseries in the Great Lakes region. It looks like we've offered this plant in the past, but the nurseries we're working with this week don't appear to have it in stock at the moment.

Our goal is to bring as many plants together under "one roof" as possible, so we'll try hard to make it available again in the future!