Friday, July 07, 2006

Climbing Hydrangea

June 17 and 26 - Bowen Island, BC. This Climbing Hydrangea (Hydrangea anamola subsp. petiolaris) is growing in S.'s and Y.T.'s garden. I'd never seen one before. I was intrigued with the structure of the flower clusters.The Climbing Hydrangea is native to the woodlands of Japan and coastal China. It blooms in late June and early July. With the support of a large tree, the plant can reach heights of 50 to 80 feet.

The blooms are 6" to 10" in diameter and are comprised of numerous small flowers. The smaller, fertile flowers are in the centre of the bloom.The larger flowers encircling the bloom are sterile. I found a bloom that had broken off. I loved the colours of the dying flowers. First photo taken with a Canon EOS 350D (Rebel XT) at 70 mm. The rest were taken with a Canon Powershot SD 700 IS.

4 comments:

Lené Gary said...

The flowers are gorgeous--and like you said, even the drying ones are beautiful. Thanks for showing the larger view of the plant as well as the close-ups. The flower reminds me a little of the shape of hobblebush, but it's definitely a different plant.

Cyn Bagley said...

they look like stars and flowers.. beautiful. :-)

LauraHinNJ said...

I love hydrangeas, but have trouble growing them. Did you find many insects attracted to the flowers?

Pam in Tucson said...

lené - I'ver never heard of hobble bush so I looked it up. I see the resemblance in the flowers.

cynthia - "stars and flowers" - yes, they do look like that, don't they? They're wonderfully delicate.

laurahinnj - We had hydrangeas when I was a child in DC and I've seen many other varieties, but never this one before I went to Bowen. I didn't notice insects, but then I was only studying this plant for about 20 minutes.