Oakleaf Hydrangea
Hydrangea quercifolia
A native shrub grown for big, oak-shaped leaves that turn bronze to purple in fall, showy cones of white flowers in early summer that age to pink, and peeling bark for winter. A fine specimen or informal hedge for sun or part shade. It blooms on last year's wood, so prune only right after flowering.
- Mature size
- 6.5 × 7 ft
- 2 × 2.1 m, tall × wide
- Hardiness
- Zones 5a–9b
- USDA
- Sun
- Full sun to full shade
- Water
- Dry to moist
- Blooms
- May–Jul
- Fall color Oct–Nov
Oakleaf Hydrangea at its mature size
A mature Oakleaf Hydrangea grows to about 6.5 ft tall and 7 ft wide, taller than most people.
Drawn to scale beside a 5 ft 9 in person. With VeraScape, you see it at this size in your own yard.
Typical mature size, unpruned. Sources: NC State Extension, UF/IFAS Extension, landscapeplants.oregonstate.edu, Purdue Arboretum.
Through the year
What Oakleaf Hydrangea looks like month by month in a typical zone 6–7 garden.
Dormant · Dec–Mar
Only the shrub's coarse, thick, stiff upright stems remain, few and sparsely branched, covered in shaggy peeling cinnamon-brown bark, some dried heads.
In leaf · Apr–May, Aug–Sep
Large green oak-shaped leaves, no flowers.
In flower · Jun–Jul
Upright cone-shaped clusters of creamy white flowers above the oak-shaped leaves.
Fall · Oct–Nov
The same large oak-shaped leaves all turned deep burgundy, wine-red and mahogany, every flower cluster dried to papery tan-pink.
Photos
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Growing Oakleaf Hydrangea
- Grows well in
- The Northeast, the Southeast, the Midwest, and the Pacific Northwest.
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Good for
- Hedge, specimen, shade garden, drought tolerant, pollinators, fall color, and winter interest
- Leaves
- Drops its leaves in winter
- Native to
- Southeastern United States
Spacing for a hedge
VeraScape spaces plants so their grown canopies just touch. For Oakleaf Hydrangea, that’s about 7 ft apart, center to center.
Place a row in your own yard and VeraScape spaces them at their mature width, so you can see whether they’ll crowd the walk.
See Oakleaf Hydrangea in your yard before you dig
Visualize it at its true size, alongside the rest of your design.
Other hydrangeas
Incrediball Hydrangea
Oakleaf Hydrangea
Limelight HydrangeaAll drawn to the same scale.