Gina Parkinson admires the winter shades of the climbing hydrangea.
It is a cold, dismal day as I write, with a heavy grey sky and cold wind making the grasses and remaining plants in the borders quiver. I had needed some more photographs done for In the Garden this week - they are usually done in batches so there is enough for three or four columns worth. It crossed my mind that this was a tall order in November, but there was plenty to photograph despite the poor light levels and the garden looking less than its best.
The climbing hydrangea, Hydrangea petiolaris, looks especially good at the moment in its autumn coat of leaves that are turning from green to gorgeous shades of yellow. The display is short lived and quite a bit later this year than usual, but it clothes the wall with a wonderful show of colour before the leaves drop, leaving behind a dark brown framework of peeling bark on trunk and stems. The remains of the flowers will stay on the plant all winter; dry, brown skeletons that don't sound at all inspiring but they add a little interest to the shrub and can be removed in spring when the buds begin to fatten and burst into leaf.
This large shrub is not for the faint hearted or the impatient. It requires a long length of wall on which to grow and can sometimes take several years to flower depending on how old it is when purchased and also how quickly it establishes itself after planting. Ours was in place when we moved to our house and is now at least 20 years old.
It grows along a brick wall and into some trellis, perhaps covering a length of 5m/15ft and around 2.5m/8ft high. It has to be kept in order with careful pruning every two or three years, otherwise I think it would take over the garden. But, apart from this, it is an easy plant to grow once established.
Growing it on a fence isn't ideal, the strength of the plant is considerable and it is better suited to cover an unsightly area of wall, especially if it's north facing. It is a particularly good plant for a shady area where it can grow away undisturbed and give a beautiful display of creamy flowers in spring.
Hydrangea macrophylla is also looking good at the moment, covered in large mophead flowers that have deepened from their original pink to darker pinks and reds with a hint of brown and green. They are lovely and it is not too late for them to be picked and dried for indoor decoration.
As my shrub is still only a baby, my mother-in-law allows me to pick a large bunch of blooms from the tremendous shrub growing in her Cheshire garden each year and they last for twelve months until the next crop is ready to be picked.
I know these plants have a bed press and indeed there are many other species of hydrangea that are considered to be more attractive, but I have a soft spot for the macrophyllas and would always want to have at least one in my garden.
These two hydrangeas are generally easy to grow but they do need a fairly fertile soil which doesn't dry out in summer and won't get waterlogged in winter. They do well in light shade and the climbing hydrangea will also cope happily on a shady north-facing wall.
The flowerheads on both types of plant can be left on over the winter, where they will give some end-of-the-year interest to the garden and, in the case of H. macrophylla, offer some protection from frost for the stems and buds further down the plant.
Remember to remove the flowerheads in spring when new growth emerges.
H.macrophylla can be lightly pruned at the same time while unwanted stems of Hydrangea petiolaris can be removed after flowering.
Weekend catch-up
It is a good idea to check any climbers growing against the house wall before the cold weather comes. Strong growing plants will soon make their way into guttering and around windows so they need to be cut back at least twice a year to keep them in check.
Clematis plants are a case in point and I got up the step ladders earlier this week to clear a Clematis alpina from the guttering of a one-storey extension and cut a Clematis armandii away from the boiler outlet. The flowering of the latter plant will almost certainly be affected by this late pruning, but it was beginning to get too close to the pipe for comfort.
While attending to climbers, tie in straggling branches so they aren't damaged by winter winds and remove any dead stems.
Gardening TV and radio
Sunday, November 20
9am, Radio York, Down to Earth. Presented by William Jenkyns. (Repeated at 8pm on Wednesday).
9am, Radio Leeds, Tim Crowther and Joe Maiden.
2pm, R4, Gardeners' Question Time. This week the programme comes from east Devon where Carol Klein, Bob Flowerdew, Anne Swithinbank and chairman Peter Gibbs try to solve the horticultural problems of the gardeners there. Plus a guide to the best gardening books and the gardening weather forecast which is at 2.25pm.
Friday November 25
3pm, BBC2, Garden Invaders. A couple of novice gardeners get help with their suburban back garden.
8pm, BBC2. Garden School. In the sixth part of this eight part series the students go back to the drawing board when Diarmuid Gavin exiles them to the Cotswolds.
8.30pm, BBC2, Gardeners' World - Heaven Scent. A revised repeat of the programme shown earlier in the year in which Carol Klein looks at the history of perfume and the science behind the smell of a plant.
Updated: 08:40 Saturday, November 19, 2005
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