Hydrangea paniculata 'LeeP1'

Summary

UC Davis is located in Davis, California, this site has a silty clay loam soil and plants are irrigated with potable water. More information about the field sites is located in the Nuts & Bolts section.

White Wedding^® is a deciduous perennial shrub with a somewhat more compact stature than most H. paniculata cultivars. After a late winter pruning of the previous year’s stems to viable growing points, it formed attractive mounds of bright green foliage that contrasted beautifully with the large white flower heads held close to the leaves by sturdy stems . They bloomed prolifically in Davis in July. Blooms begin snow white then begin to fade to celadon and finally sepia in late summer and early fall. The faded flower heads persisted and generally remained attractive to the end of the trial. In September, the plants started to drop their foliage and browned edges started to develop on some of the remaining foliage. Overall it appeared as if the plants had gone dormant. Over the subsequent months, staff noticed that the White Wedding began to leaf out, pushing out bright new growth from dormant buds as if it were spring. At the end of October, this activity was observed at some level in 19 individual plants. Since this same occurrence was also observed in several individuals receiving regular water planted in an adjacent field, this likely isn’t a treatment effect. Due to the timing, researchers are unsure if the earlier browning and loss of leaves could have been an impact from the smoke and ash from wildfires occurring at the same time. Although foliage fading in September is not atypical for hydrangeas, this should be considered when making decisions about landscape placement. Growth and several aesthetic parameters, specifically foliage quality, floral abundance, vigor, and overall appearance, were significantly compromised on low water (Table 29 & Fig. 22b). We therefore recommend placing White Wedding^® hydrangea in the medium category of water use for WUCOLS Region 2.

Hydrangea paniculata 'LeeP1' White Wedding® closeup picture from July 2020. JA Sisneroz