Hydrangea quercifolia 'ALICE'

Alice is an oak-leaved hydrangea bred by a renowned botanist and hydrangea lover Michael Dirr during his Giorgia Plant Introduction Programme. It is a huge dude, indeed - it has extra large leaves, huge flowers, and makes substantial shrubs.

Alice It produces enormous foliage: 30-40 cm across. Its highly attractive, deciduous leaves are deeply lobed with conspicuous tips, leathery, rich green in spring, slightly paler in summer, and turn rich carmine red and striking wine red in late summer. These eye-catching leaves are held well throughout almost the entire autumn season, falling down very late – among the last deciduous shrubs.

The inflorescence is 25-35 cm long and slightly arching under its weight. It is composed mainly of sterile, creamy white flowers that change to pink in midsummer and remain such until early autumn without fading.

The shrub grows vigorously into a rounded shape, about 2m tall and almost 3m wide in maturity. Its older branches reveal exfoliating bark. Pruning is not necessary, however, if you need to prune or shape the plant do so immediately after flowering because it flowers on previous year’s wood.

Oak-leaved hydrangea comes from moist and boggy sites along streams and river banks, therefore, it will require similar conditions in the garden. Grow it in constantly moist soil, in full sun or part shade, it can even take temporary waterlogging. It is not fussy about soil pH or quality – it will grow even in clay and compacted ground, but more slowly. It is fully hardy to about -29°C (USDA zone 5).

Last update: 12-11-2018