L.A. Dreamin® Hydrangea

Everyone loves hydrangeas, but because some of us love white ones, others love blue, and for some pink is always a favorite, making choosing one color very difficult. If you have trouble making choices, then the L.A. Dreamin® Hydrangea is for you. This unique and beautiful hydrangea can’t make up its mind either, so some of the flowers are blue, others pink, and some are rich purple. This is also a perpetual flowering hydrangea, so you get blooms in early summer, followed by more in late summer and into early fall – it’s in bloom from June into November, and a great addition to your beds. It’s hard to find plants for more shady parts of the garden that reward you with abundant blooms, but hydrangeas will, so it’s no wonder they are so popular, and also so easy to grow. A perfect mid-sized plant, the L.A. Dreamin® Hydrangea is going to look great in your garden, and it’s terrific in pots and planters on a terrace as well.

Growing the L.A. Dreamin® Hydrangea

Size and Appearance

The L.A. Dreamin® Hydrangea is a deciduous shrub that grows 3 feet tall and wide, reaching as much as 5 feet tall and wide in warmer zones and good growing conditions, after a few years of growth. The leaves are large ovals, with a boldly-serrated edge, about 7 inches long and 4 inches wide. They are a rich green color with a slightly leathery, crinkled texture. In fall the leaves turn yellow. Flower heads develop on both the older branches and on new growth of the present year, so this plant blooms more-or-less continuously from mid-June to mid-November. The dome-shaped flower heads are large, reaching 9 inches in diameter, with almost 100 individual flowers in each head. Each flower is around 1 inch across, with 4 broad, flattened petals, and this variety is unique, because some of the flowers have serrated edges on the petals, and others are smooth, forming a mixed bunch that has a fascinating textural appeal. An established bush will bloom profusely, carrying as many as 50 flower heads in a season, each one lasting up to 3 months, from the first green stage to the final stage, when the flowers turn fascinating ‘antique’ tones of greens, tans, blues and pinks.

What makes the L.A. Dreamin® Hydrangea unique is the way that each bush carries bloom heads that may be pink, blue or purple. This makes every bush unique, and different at different times of year, so it is a really eye-catching feature in your garden – in beds or containers – and a fascinating conversation-piece that will intrigue all gardeners who see it. This multi-color effect is most pronounced in soils around the neutral range. In very acid soils most of the flowers will be blue, and in very alkaline soils most of them will be pink – still lovely of course, so why not see what this fickle beauty does for you?

Using the L.A. Dreamin® Hydrangea in Your Garden

The L.A. Dreamin® Hydrangea is exactly the right size for planting in all your garden beds, and it has exceptional sun-tolerance too, making it very versatile. It can be grown as a single plant, and it’s also very effective planted in a group or a row, spacing plants 2 to 3 feet apart in cool zones, and 3 to 4 feet apart in warmer ones. It is also perfect for containers, and using this unique plant means that you don’t have to make the choice of a single color.

Hardiness

The L.A. Dreamin® Hydrangea is hardy all the way from zone 5 (where it will tend to be a smaller shrub) all the way into zones 9 and 10.

Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions

You can plant the L.A. Dreamin® Hydrangea in full sun if it has moist soil – it is much more sun-tolerant than most other varieties, and the leaves and flowers won’t scorch. It also grows well in partial shade and appreciates afternoon shade, especially in warmer zones. It is tolerant of the shade at the foot of a north-facing wall, and dappled shade beneath deciduous trees, but not of deep shade, and flowering will be reduced in more shady spots. The ideal soil for this hydrangea is neutral, with a pH between 6.5 and 7.5, which will give the best range of flower colors. It should be rich in organic material, well-drained, but generally moist. This bush is not noticeably drought tolerant.

Maintenance and Pruning

Your plants will tell you they are dry by drooping their leaves, but don’t let this happen too often, or growth and blooming will suffer. Water regularly, especially when freshly planted, and use a fertilizer for flowering shrubs, applying it in spring and until the middle of summer, as given in the directions. Use liquid fertilizer for plants in containers. The L.A. Dreamin® Hydrangea is generally free of serious pests, and it has good resistance to diseases, particularly to leaf spot (Bipolaris sorokiniana), and powdery mildew (Erysiphe).

There are several ways to prune hydrangeas. The simplest is to remove spent flowers back to the first healthy buds you see, and remove any dead wood in spring. You can also, when the plants are young, remove the tips of the stems regularly through the season. This will cause branching, creating a dense, multi-stem bush that will flower profusely in later years, although not much in the year you do this. Then begin removing spent flower heads, and pinching new shoots until the middle of August, which keeps bushes well-branched into the future, while preserving flowers.

History and Origin of the L.A. Dreamin® Hydrangea

This bush is a variety of the big-leaf hydrangea, Hydrangea macrophylla, which originated in China. There are many varieties, but this plant often forms new ones. John D Bakale, Jr. of Allendale, Michigan found this plant at his father’s nursery, Northland Evergreens, in 1998, and patented it in 2015. He named it ‘Lindsay Ann’ after his daughter, and this plant can also be called the ‘Lindsay Ann’ Hydrangea. He also trademarked it in 2015, with the registered trademark name of L.A. Dreamin®.

Buying the L.A. Dreamin® Hydrangea at the Tree Center

We love this hydrangea, because like so many people, we can’t make our minds up either when it comes to hydrangea colors. You will love the surprises it brings, and how lovely it always is, but order now, and this special variety is hard to source but incredibly popular.