Snowflake Oakleaf Hydrangea

We all love hydrangeas, and there is much more to them than the traditional mophead type in pink or blue, lovely as those are. With our modern trend to more natural and informal gardening, our native oakleaf hydrangea has grown hugely in popularity. Of course it has always been popular in the South, and although it has been a long time since its chance discovery in a nursery in Alabama, the Snowflake Oakleaf Hydrangea remains an outstanding and valuable plant. The big, bold leaves are just the beginning, because this plant quickly erupts with huge, 15-inch long heads of sparkling blossoms that arch up and over into a cascade of beauty. Because the flowers are double they are sterile, so it stays attractive in bloom for longer, and it comes into bloom sooner – a combination guaranteed to keep your garden smothered in summer snow for months.

Growing the Snowflake Oakleaf Hydrangea

Size and Appearance

The Snowflake Oakleaf Hydrangea is a rounded deciduous shrub that quickly grows 4 to 6 feet tall and wide, forming a valuable shrub for your garden. The large leaves are not at all like regular hydrangeas. They are 8 inches long and 5 inches wide, slightly leathery, with a slightly rough surface that is dark green on the top and silvery-green underneath. The leaves are divided into 5 lobes, with irregular serrations on the edges, and resemble some giant leaf from an oak tree. In winter they stay on the bush until it is very cold, turning beautiful wine shades of dark red and purple before falling.

Blooms begin early – as soon as April in very warm zones, but generally by mid-summer. These grow at the ends of stems growing on older branches, and they are a long, conical head of many blooms, between 12 and 15 inches long. Unlike other oakleaf hydrangeas the flowers have many petals in layers, forming a double bloom almost an inch across. These double blooms make the flower head far more striking and attractive than on other oakleaf hydrangeas. They also add weight, causing the bloom heads to arch over and even cascade in the most attractive way. The flowers are white with some green petals, and they open slowly and stay open week after week. The blooms gradually turn rosy-red and eventually a sandy brown for the winter.

Using the Snowflake Oakleaf Hydrangea in Your Garden

This fabulous shrub is perfect almost anywhere in your garden. Plant it in shrub beds behind smaller shrubs, or in the corners of beds. Grow it along a wide driveway or path, or use it in natural and native gardens as a color boost. For blooms in summer after spring flowers are over, it’s a winner because it stays in bloom for so very many weeks. It can even be grown in large tubs and planters.

Hardiness

The SNOWFLAKE Oakleaf Hydrangea is hardy all the way from zone 5 to zone 9, growing best and most vigorously in warmer states of the southeast.

Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions

The versatile shrub is more sun-resistant and drought resistant than traditional hydrangeas, and it will grow in full sun as well as in areas that are bright but shaded. Too much shade will reduce flowering, but it is still a handsome foliage plant, and full sun gives the best fall colors. It will grow in all well-drained soils, including drier soil, although the best and biggest growth is in richer, moist soils. It does need good drainage, so avoid wet and low-lying parts of your garden.

Maintenance and Pruning

Generally untroubled by pests or diseases, the Snowflake Oakleaf Hydrangea is easy to grow and a very satisfying plant to have in your garden. It doesn’t need much attention – removing the dead flower heads back to the first buds is all it needs. You don’t need to prune, just remove any weak or broken branches. Don’t trim in spring or later than July, or flowering will be reduced.

History and Origin of the Snowflake Oakleaf Hydrangea

Oak-leaf Hydrangea, Hydrangea quercifolia grows in damp woodlands all the way from Georgia into Florida and Louisiana. It is the State Wildflower of Alabama, which is also where the variety called SNOWFLAKE™ originated. Edgar Gaines Aldridge was born into his father’s nursery business, and one day in 1969 he and his father Loren found by chance a unique plant. It is not clear if they found it in the woods near their nursery in Bessemer, Alabama, or in the nursery itself, but this unique plant caught their attention with its huge heads of double flowers. They named it ‘Brido’ and patented it in 1971. That patent, PP# 3,047, expired in 1991, but their trademarked name, Snowflake™, continues to be the name it is always known by.

Buying the Snowflake Oakleaf Hydrangea at the Tree Center

The renowned plant expert Michael Dirr is among many who have praised this plant – he said it was the most beautiful of all double oakleaf hydrangeas. With that as a recommendation, don’t hesitate to plant the Snowflake Oakleaf Hydrangea – you will be so glad you did. But order now, because it is always so popular that it sells out almost as soon as we bring stock in.