Hydrangea macrophylla 'HY-PE ORIGINAL RED'

Bigleaf hydrangea originates from Japan, specifically from the island of Honshu. It was discovered and first described in 1784 by the renowned Swedish botanist Carl Peter Thunberg (1743-1828), who is sometimes described as the "Japanese Linnaeus" because he conducted most of his research in Japan and was a student of Carl Linnaeus, the founder of modern botanical nomenclature. This hydrangea can be recognized by its large, sturdy, and broadly oval leaves, and its strikingly coloured flowers, which are arranged in either rounded clusters (mop-head) or flat-topped clusters (lacecap). It is a well-known fact that the flowers change colour based on soil pH – in acidic (heath-like) soils with a pH range of 3.5 to 4.5, they are blue due to the presence of aluminium, which ensures the blue coloration, while in soils with higher pH (calcareous), the flowers are pink to red. When the soil pH is uneven, which is very common in the continental climate of Central Europe, the flowers are multicoloured.

The Hy-Pe bigleaf hydrangea series is bred by hydrangea specialists at the Dutch nursery Sjaak van Schie, located west of Rotterdam. The Hy-Pe Original Red variety bears deep red, large flowers from June until the end of the season, provided you fertilize well. The flowers are round (mop-head), about 15-17 cm across, and bloom at the tips of very dark maroon, fleshy stems. The deciduous leaves are dark green, lush, slightly glossy, and reliably cover the entire shrub.

Hy-Pe hydrangeas are suitable not only for outdoor cultivation in warmer locations, they are also ideal for growing indoors in containers that can be moved to a patio or balcony in summer. If you maintain the growing temperature between 15 and 25 °C, they can bloom in your living room from as early as February or March, and by the end of May, you can move them to a shaded terrace where, with ample watering and regular weekly fertilization, they will bloom until autumn. After that, bring them back indoors in order to avoid frost damage if you live in a region with harsh winters.

The flower colour of bigleaf hydrangeas is directly dependent on the soil pH – in alkaline (calcareous) to neutral soil they will be pink to red, and in acidic soil they will turn purple to blue. Deadhead spent flowers regularly by cutting off the entire inflorescence to encourage faster formation of new flowers, but otherwise do not prune these hydrangeas – you would lose the flower buds. Exceptionally, once every several years, you can prune them deeply for rejuvenation, but they will not bloom that year. To ensure the shrubs bloom for a long time, it is necessary to fertilize regularly, ideally every week with a quick-release, selective fertilizer with a higher phosphorus content for flower formation.

Large-leaved hydrangea grows in moist but well-drained, nutritious soil. Once established, it is not so sensitive to occasional dry spells, but we still recommend frequent watering. It prefers partial shade or diffused sunlight. It can handle direct sun only with daily, regular watering, and in frost-prone areas winter shade will help the buds survive hard frost. Keep it always mulched. Hardy to about -18 °C (USDA zone 7).

Last update 28-01-2025