What types of hydrangeas are available?
While there are approximately 23 species of Hydrangea, only five are widely cultivated in the U.S. The most popular species is Hydrangea macrophylla, which is commonly known as bigleaf, French, garden or florists hydrangea. This Japanese native is rated as hardy to USDA cold-hardiness zone 6. It produces large inflorescences of white, pink or blue flowers in early summer. As with most other Hydrangea species, the inflorescence is composed of a combination of large, showy and small, inconspicuous flowers. In mophead, or Hortensia, (H. macrophylla var. macrophylla) cultivars, many showy flowers are arranged on the outside of the rounded inflorescence (see image at right). On the interior of the inflorescence, a few small flowers are present; these are the flowers that produce seed. Lacecap cultivars (H. macrophylla var. normalis) have an inner ring of small, fertile flowers surrounded by an outer ring of large, showy flowers (see image at left). Growing 4 to 6 feet in height and width, b
