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Hydrangea `Snow Queen`

Once considered old-fashioned, Hydrangeas are now enjoying a resurgence in popularity which we find rather nice since we believe these big and beautiful plants are well deserving of much admiration.

However, it wasn`t until very recently that many folk were able to see past the flamboyance of the showy mop top and lace cap Hydrangeas to finally appreciate the simple subtly and chic elegance of the species Hydrangeas such as Pee Gee (H.paniculata) and Oak Leaf (H.quercifolia).

Much of this new found interest in the more subtle Hydrangeas has been driven by this season`s most exciting introduction - the Hydrangea quercifolia `Snow Queen`. It`s a new and improved selection of the Oak Leaf Hydrangea. Like the Oak Leaf Hydrangea, this one puts on a show in your garden for every season:

in Spring you`ll enjoy its the large, dark leathery leaves which are deeply textured (in a pattern reminiscent of oak leaves)
in Summer you`ll oooh and aaaahh over the crisp white flowers
in Autumn you`ll be swooning over the divine red-purple-crimson autumnal colours of the foliage which remains on the plant until late in the season
whilst in Winter you can enjoy the structural skeleton of the naked plant, it`s orange buds and exfoliating copper-tan coloured bark.

The SNOW QUEEN Hydrangea however, is far even more showy and flamboyant than the original Oak Leaf Hydrangea. It was originally discovered as seedling (by William Flemer III of New Jersey`s famous Princeton Nurseries) because it stood out with its unique range of desirable ornamental characteristics including:

Its impossibly large flowers which look whiter, than white and mature to pale pink.
A much greater number of flowers on each bush
Its outstanding ability to hold the flowers faithfully upright to spectacular effect (its quite unusual for an Oak Leaf Hydrangea to hold flowers upright).
Its ability to easily withstand hot sun, strong winds and heavy rain.

SNOW QUEEN develops into a shapely compact plant. Eventually it will mature to approximately 3-3.5m but by 5 years old you can expect a shrub to about one and half metres tall and wide

SNOW QUEEN is also quite versatile, tolerating deep shade to full sun. In cooler climates we recommend planting Snow Queen in full sun and the warmer your climate the more shade you would afford this royal beauty. It`s also pest and disease free.

We think this wonderfully garden worthy plant is well worth growing in your garden. I guess its for the same reason we love Snow Queen that it won the highly prestigious Styer Award in the USA of Garden Merit when it was first introduced there.

We recommend trying this plant. You`ll love it! It`s available through our Winter 2001 mail order catalogue (which is available in Print and Online from May 7th 2001).

Add your name to the mailing list here. (Please note: Tesselaar Catalogues are available to Australian residents only)

Last Reviewed: 18/02/2004 9:33:41 AM

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