Last updated on March 6th, 2022
Our site is reader supported, this means we may earn a small commission from Amazon and other affiliates when you buy through links on our site.
Hydrangeas are a beautiful shrub for any garden and there are so many varieties to choose from that you can effectively select the type of leaves, flowers and sizes you prefer without having to compromise. More importantly, Hydrangeas are available in so many varieties that you won’t have to miss out just because you have a garden with more shade than sunlight.
There are plenty of shade-loving Hydrangeas out there that come in all forms, with the popular mophead varieties that have the ability to change the colour of the flowers and grow well in pots to climbing varieties that are ideal for planting against a shady wall.
Which varieties love shade?
The four types below will all grow in shadier spots compared to most other types of Hydrangea.
- Hydrangea aspera
- Climbing Hydrangea
- Mophead Hydrangea
- Lacecap Hydrangea
1. Hydrangea Aspera
The hydrangea Aspera is known for its dark green leaves and clusters of velvety flowers. There are so many varieties of the Hydrangea Aspera out there that you aren’t limited to choosing just one flower colour. If you want something that is more iridescent and brings bees to your garden, the villosa variety is perfect. If instead, you want something that is a slightly different colour, the plum passion variety has purple leaves and green-purple foliage that is ideal for shaded regions of your garden.
No products found.
2. Climbing Hydrangeas – Hydrangea petiolaris
If there is an area of your garden where you want some privacy, perhaps natural growth that creates a privacy screen or you simply want to cover up an unsightly garden shed, climbing Hydrangeas are the best solution. Many climbing Hydrangeas can reach up to 10m in height if allowed.
Climbing Hydrangeas bring about the lacecap-style flowers with green foliage, but they do require a sturdy structure against which to climb. These varieties offer many shades of flowers, for example, white flowers that are edged in gold or gold and cream flowers. In any case, the climbing Hydrangea does take about three or four years to establish itself so it might take some time for you to see all of these blooms in their full glory, however, you can reduce the amount of time it takes by purchasing a Climbing Hydrangea that is already a few years old.
3. Mophead Hydrangea – Hydrangea macrophylla
The classic mophead Hydrangeas are of course the quintessence of the Hydrangea family and if you have a shaded area in your garden rest assured there are varieties that will thrive in the shade. These are the varieties whose colour you can control in most cases by changing the acidity or alkalinity of the soil. That said, some of the most common varieties for shaded areas include the Big Daddy, Cityline Venice amongst others. If you don’t want to change the flower from blue to pink and you want something that stands out on its own, the Lemon Daddy variety gives you golden yellow foliage against which the flowers stand out, whilst the Colour Fantasy variety gives you rich, red flowers on top of dark green leaves.
4. Lacecap Hydrangea
Similar to the mopheads, the lace cap varieties are still part of the macrophylla family, but rather than having large puffy balls of flowers they have larger blooms with smaller flowers in the centre. There are plenty of shade-loving varieties here whose colour can be altered based on the pH level of your soil. Regardless of the shade you select, you will see the larger blooms encompassing a tiny ring of blooms and it brings something unique to your garden. One such variety is called the ‘Bits of Lace’ and it has rich burgundy stems with purple-red flowers sprinkled in between. Of course, not everyone wants the classic red and green colour combination and for those gardeners, the ‘Lemon Wave’ brings about light blue flowers and foliage edged in yellow and cream.
Regardless of the variety that you select, understand that shade-loving Hydrangeas prefer to have their roots in shade at all times and will do well with shade in the afternoon. The richness of the flowers might be diminished if they are grown in an area with very little sunlight but as long as they get access to some morning sunlight these varieties will thrive.
Last update on 2024-12-03 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
