Digging deeper - Summer colour

Beautiful hydrangea at Trelissick, Cornwall — A shock of colour

The gorgeous garden is cared for by a dedicated team of staff and volunteers. Here the gardeners share their horticultural knowledge for you to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of the garden's key highlights. Watch this space as the seasons go by for fresh updates.

Bloomin' brilliant hydrangeas

Hydrangeas are by far one of the most popular garden plants, and it’s not hard to see why. They’re easy to care for and they offer up of a profusion of flower heads throughout the summer months, often changing hues into late summer and autumn. If you’re looking for some flower power, you’ll go some way to beat this gorgeous group of plants.

Here at Trelissick, we use them to great effect throughout the gardens; they clothe bare walls and scale mighty trees, they add elegance and light to shady areas, and provide a immense blast of colour all summer long.

These are just some of our favourites.

Hydrangea petiolaris

You’ll find this climbing hydrangea winding its way up a majestic oak along the Loop, where it happily flowers all summer. This self-clinging climber is equally at home on a bare wall and provides beautiful autumn colour when the dark green foliage fades to yellow.

Hydrangea 'Enziandom'

Undoubtedly one of the best blue hydrangeas, this mop head will produce long lasting intense blue blooms all summer long when grown in acidic soil (the flowers will be a mauve/pink in alkaline soil). This is one of the current stars of the Hydrangea Walk.

Hydrangea serrata ‘Grayswood’

A blue centre of tiny fertile flowers are surrounded by a ray of white florets which turn to shades of pink, crimson and burgundy in late summer and autumn. It’s compact, hardy and makes a superb and long-lasting cut flower.

Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’

Impressively large, creamy white flower heads add a touch of freshness, especially in a shaded area. The flower bracts later turn lime green, and even when the heads have faded in the autumn and winter months, they retain a graceful presence in the garden.

Hydrangea aspera in Trelissick garden, Cornwall — Delicate colours of the Hydrangea aspera

Hydrangea aspera - subsp. sargentiana

This deciduous hydrangea will easily reach heights of 3 metres and more, and it will thrive in a spacious, sheltered spot in partial shade. Large flat flower heads of purple, blue and white sit atop velvety green foliage from summer into the autumn months.