standout native hydrangeas, with mt. cuba’s sam hoadley

IT’S HARD TO NAME another genus of shrub that’s more beloved by gardeners than Hydrangea, but with the overwhelming popularity of Asian species, like the big blue mopheads and summer into fall Hydrangea paniculata types, where do hydrangeas fit in as more and more gardeners favor native plants? And especially ones that support pollinators and other beneficial insects.

The native plant experts at Mt. Cuba Center in Delaware have just released a report on the results of a five-year trial, that focused mostly on an important native species, Hydrangea arborescens, and what both gardeners and pollinators have to say about its range of cultivars.

The last time Sam Hoadley visited the show, we compared the dizzying range of cultivars and species of Echinacea. Today’s topic is hydrangeas. Sam is the manager of horticultural research at Mt. Cuba Center, a longtime native plant garden and research site, where he trialed 29 species in cultivars. Before joining Mt. Cuba, he was lead horticulturist for Longwood Gardens Hillside Garden, and he received his degree in sustainable horticulture from University of Vermont.

Read along as you listen to the February 7, 2022 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) or Spotify or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).

hydrangea arborescens and its kin, with sam hoadley

Margaret Roach: How’s the winter been down there in the Mid-Atlantic?

Sam Hoadley: Yeah, it’s been good. We were enjoying some unseasonably warm temperatures for a while, and we just had the reality check in the last two weeks. It is actually winter, the temperatures, but it looks like it’s warming up a little bit to just kind of