Pinkerella Hydrangea

Finally, a wonderful pink hydrangea, with large, full heads of bright pink blooms on strong stems, that is completely hardy even in zone 3 – imagine that! If you garden in colder zones you have probably become used to looking with envy at gardens in warmer areas with their bushes of pink and blue hydrangeas. Envy no more. You don’t have to live only with white hydrangeas – lovely and reliable as ‘Annabelle’ is. Now with the Pinkerella Hydrangea, you too can enjoy outstanding bushes of bright pink flowers, from late summer all through fall. This great new plant has strong, sturdy stems, so no annoying flopping and breaking either. Just as easy and packed with blooms as ‘Annabelle’, but sturdier, more compact and pink, you are going to love this great bush in all the partially-shaded parts of your garden. Your welcome.

Growing the Pinkerella Hydrangea

Size and Appearance

The Pinkerella Hydrangea is a rounded deciduous shrub growing 3 to 5 feet tall and wide. The larger size is seen with plants grown in warmer zones. It forms a mound of thick stems, covered in large leaves, which will grow about 3 feet in a single season. The leaves are rounded, with a pointed tip and serrated edges. They have a thick, slightly crinkled texture and they are dark green, and about 6 inches long and 4 inches wide. Even without flowers this bush is attractive, with lovely dense foliage, filling empty spaces in your garden.

By early summer you will see small clusters of greenish buds at the end of every new growing shoot, and by mid to late summer, depending on your climate, these will have expanded into very large heads of about 800 flowers, measuring 7 inches across. The buds are deep pink, opening into blossoms over ½ an inch across, of a bright light pink. These flower heads really glow out true pink – no watery ‘pinky-white’ tones. They have a different character to the mop-head hydrangea and some consider them even more beautiful – either way a bush in bloom is truly gorgeous, covered with so many heads the foliage is almost hidden, each standing upright on a strong stem. Even better, this color stays and stays, with no fading or browning, right into late fall. If you cut them for drying, the pink color also stays – what a delight for your home in winter they will be.

Using the Pinkerella Hydrangea in Your Garden

For every partially-shaded spot in your garden, this is the shrub you want. Plant it in beds in front of taller plants, or behind shorter ones, especially those blooming in spring and early summer. Grow it in a row along a fence or driveway. You can also grow it in large tubs for a shady patio or terrace.

Hardiness

The Pinkerella Hydrangea is completely root-hardy in zones 3 and 4, and blooms there reliably with no special attention. It is branch-hardy all the way into zone 9, so you can enjoy it wherever you garden.

Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions

The ideal conditions for the Pinkerella Hydrangea are in morning sun and afternoon shade. In cold zones, with good watering, it will grow in full sun, and in warmer zones take more shade, even dappled shade all day long. The soil can be acid or alkaline – the blooms will always be a clean pink – and it should be rich and moist, but well-drained. Water regularly, as this plant is not drought resistant.

Maintenance and Pruning

Fertilize in spring with any fertilizer for flowering shrubs, particularly when growing in planters and pots. Water regularly, and certainly at the first sign of drooping leaves. Repeated dry conditions will dry-out the flower buds. Pests and diseases are rare and very unlikely to be an issue, unless the ground is constantly wet. Pruning is best done by waiting for the buds to swell a little, and begin to show some green. Cut out any branches that aren’t sprouting, and cut back the remaining ones to the first pair of strong, healthy buds. In zones 3 and 4 you will probably have to cut completely to the ground, but new buds will soon rise from the base, grow to about 3 feet tall, and bloom, in a single season, once your bush is well-established. In warm zones you can cut back to lower pairs of buds if you want to keep your bush smaller, and create larger flower heads.

History and Origin of the Pinkerella Hydrangea

It has been a long journey for the Pinkerella Hydrangea. It begins with the smooth hydrangea, Hydrangea arborescens, an American native plant that grows in woodlands and beside streams all the way from New York to Florida. That plant has heads of tiny, greenish flowers that are not attractive, but in the late 19th century a unique plant was discovered in a woodland in Ohio. It had large white flowers in a big head, and was named ‘Grandiflora’. Later it was replaced by an even better form, the famous ‘Annabelle’ hydrangea from The Gulf Stream Nursery in Watchapreague, Virginia, that has been with us for many years. Then, in 2002, Timothy Wood, from Spring Meadow Nursery in Grand Haven, Michigan, grew some seeds of ‘Annabelle’. Among them he found a plant that was bigger, sturdier, and had very strong stems holding up enormous flower heads. Called ‘Abetwo’, It became the first Incrediball® Hydrangea. In 2006 Thomas Ranney, a professor and plant breeder at the North Carolina State University’s Mountain Horticultural Crops Research Station,developed the first pink-flowered version of ‘Annabelle’, which became Invincibelle™ Spirit (‘NCHA1’). Finally, across the Atlantic in Boskoop, the Netherlands, Peter Kolster crossed together Incrediball and Invincibelle Spirit to create a plant with pink flowers on sturdy, upright stems. He named it ‘Kolpinbel’ when patenting it in 2018, and now it has been released as the Pinkerella Hydrangea. A long journey to the best cold-resistant pink hydrangea we have today.

Buying the Pinkerella Hydrangea at the Tree Center

We know that everyone in cold zones is going to be buying up our stock of this great plant, and so will people in warm ones who love pink. So every plant will soon be gone – order now.