New hydrangea varieties coming soon

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This article was published 24/08/2024 (379 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If there is a conundrum with hydrangeas, it is this – new varieties keep getting better and this trend is expected to continue. As satisfied as you may be with the hydrangea varieties you are currently growing, you can be certain that you will want the new introductions planned for 2025 and beyond. They are that good.

Major growers in the North American hydrangea market keep their finger on the pulse of gardeners who want more compact hydrangeas, stronger stems, and bigger, more colourful flowers that bloom all season long. Brand names such as Proven Winners, First Editions, Endless Summer, and Bloomin’ Easy are easily recognized by hydrangea enthusiasts across North America.

But the future for hydrangea breeding innovation will also come from European growers such as Living Creations which is under the leadership of Alex Schoemaker, a sixth-generation hydrangea breeder. Headquartered in Boskoop, The Netherlands, Living Creations is focused on creating the perfect Hydrangea paniculata which is the most reliable type of hydrangea grown in North American gardens. The Living Creations hydrangea collection is currently being trialed at four locations in Ontario as well as in Texas and North Carolina. The North American hydrangea market will never be the same.

Schoemaker has hit upon something entirely new in hydrangeas: a ground cover hydrangea called Groundbreaker that is 30 cm (11 inches) tall and 60 cm (23 inches) wide. Groundbreaker hydrangea from Living Creations is twice as wide as it is high. The flowers are pink. Groundbreaker’s unique growth habit makes it ideal for hedging or edging garden borders but also for patio containers. Recently I chatted with Schoemaker on WhatsApp.

“We are not the biggest grower of Hydrangea paniculata but we consider ourselves thought leaders,” said Schoemaker. “Hydrangea paniculata is the only thing we do. We have the total range of Hydrangea paniculata planted out in our facility. That’s our benchmark, that’s our knowledge bank to do a better job. We are trying to make beautiful hydrangeas every day and we are trying to find new ways for the same product which we’ve done right now with the ground covering hydrangea. In the near future – between three and five years — I think we can offer a range of ground covering hydrangeas with different kinds of colours. But because Groundbreaker is so successful, we are paying attention to the low and wide hydrangea in our breeding.”

Living Creations is also working to develop hydrangeas for 2030: climate-resilient hydrangeas that are easy to care for and will withstand extreme heat and intense rainfall. How soon will we see the new Groundbreaker hydrangea at garden centres? I don’t have an answer for that question but the fact that Groundbreaker is already in Canada and being trialed in multiple locations means that it won’t be long before we will have this new hydrangea which is completely different from anything we have grown before.

When I was in Chicago this summer visiting the gardens at Ball Horticultural, North America’s leading wholesale horticultural distributor, I saw Hydrangea Haba, a new double flowered mophead hydrangea for hanging baskets. I was with a group of garden writers from Canada and the US, and we nearly knocked each other over trying to get a picture of this new bountiful and floriferous hydrangea with its flowering stems spilling over the edges of a hanging basket. The excitement was palpable. Haba is from Hydrangea Breeders Association (HBA) which is based in the Netherlands. In 2018, Ball also brought us the Kanmara Hydrangea which was bred by HBA. Like the Kanmara, Haba is meant to be grown as an annual.

How likely is it that we will see Haba next spring? Chances are good. Ball supplies vast quantities of ornamental plants to local garden centre retailers who we count on to select the best plants. Haba has so many interesting possibilities for shady spots in the garden or patio.

FlowerFull Smooth Hydrangea is a new introduction from First Editions Shrubs. Aubin Nurseries, a wholesale grower in Carman, is growing a large crop of FlowerFull hydrangeas. FlowerFull produces two to three times more blooms per season than other Hydrangea arborescens varieties. It also features strong stems. Move over Annabelle smooth hydrangea – FlowerFull is the next generation.

Garth Aubin, inventory management and logistics at Aubin Nurseries, loves this new variety. “After a rainfall, other smooth hydrangeas have a tendency to flop over but FlowerFull stays upright,” he said. “The foliage remains clean with a deep green colour. We are excited to supply FlowerFull to garden centres across Manitoba for Spring 2025.”

Patrick Hamilton, general manager at Jeffries Nurseries, a wholesale grower in Portage la Prairie, is also excited about FlowerFull. “We are very confident in this variety as we had the opportunity to witness it firsthand at the Bailey Nurseries’ growers meeting in Saint Paul Minnesota this past June,” said Hamilton. “It has done wonderful in their trials with clean foliage and beautiful large white blooms on sturdy stalks that have reportedly stood up to 60 mile per hour winds. It reacts to pruning quite well with a quick rebloom period of six weeks after cutting it back. Overall I was very impressed with it and I hope that it will soon become the replacement for the infamous Annabelle to ‘stop the flop’, as they say.”

Garth Aubin is also excited about Eclipse Bigleaf Hydrangea, a recent mophead hydrangea introduction from First Editions which has dark purple, almost black leaves. The cranberry-coloured flowers with glowing white centres are unmatched in their beauty. Seeing is believing. “It is not hardy, but we believe it can be marketed as a patio plant for Manitoba, or in a sheltered area with winter protection,” said Aubin.

Bloomin’ Easy has two new hydrangea releases for 2025. Hydrangea macrophylla Soul Mate is a Zone 5 compact rebloomer with deep pink mophead flowers with frilly edges. It will be suitable for shade container gardens. Hydrangea paniculata Bouncy is a hardy Zone 3 hydrangea with large 12 to 15 inch (30 to 38 cm) white panicles that transition to rose-pink in late summer. Bouncy boasts super strong stems.

Fairytrail Bride from Proven Winners is the first ever Cascade Hydrangea available in North America. It has a horizontal growing habit with trailing stems and white petals that transition to pink. Fairytrail Bride debuted at the Chelsea Flower Show in the U.K. in 2018 under the name Runaway Bride Hydrangea. John LePerre, sales representative for Bylands Nursery, a wholesale grower in West Kelowna which distributes plants across North America, told me that he is confident that next spring we will see Fairytrail Bride Cascade Hydrangea at local garden centres. Classified as a hybrid hydrangea, Fairytrail Bride is not hardy to our cold climate but will look elegant and luxurious in planters, hanging baskets or patio pots in shady areas.

Never one to rest on its laurels, one of Proven Winners new introductions for 2025 is Fairytrail Green Cascade with lime-coloured flowers that have brushstrokes of dark green.

My best advice? Don’t fill up every available space in your garden. New hydrangea varieties are coming our way starting in 2025, and they are just too good to miss.

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