This Guest Post was written by Randy Schultz of Home, Garden, and Homestead Magazine.
This native is spectacular for its huge, distinctive leaves and blooms!
Imagine the beauty of a full moon on a summer night and you can begin to describe a new hydrangea variety called Gatsby’s Moon™. Reaching heights up to 10 feet tall, this opulent hydrangea makes a spectacle of itself with immense leaves and huge, plush blooms. After Gatsby’s Moon was tested in trial gardens all over the world, it was chosen as a Proven Winners® ColorChoice® plant because of its exceptional blooms and outstanding garden performance.
The blooms set ample cones of double white florets, creating a rich and varied texture. The flowers start as vibrant white, then they slowly take on lime tinges as they mature. Each bloom has plenty of time to mature because Gatsby’s Moon blooms for months at a time, keeping the flowers coming all summer long. This hardy shrub is wonderfully weather resistant, so nothing will stop the blooms from putting on their show. The huge leaves make this shrub stand out all year long, especially when the leaves turn a deep red in the fall.
Gatsby’s Moon is adaptable to a wide range of growing conditions, and it performs well in most well-drained soils. In the southern U.S. it prefers some shade, and in the north it likes full sun and some shelter from the chilliest winds. Gatsby’s Moon blooms on old growth, so it is recommended that the plant be trimmed after it is finished flowering in the late summer. Fertilize in early spring with a slow-release tree and shrub fertilizer. This vigorous beauty is cold hardy throughout USDA Zones 5 to 9.