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Hydrangeas for American Gardens

© Timber Press

Here in Oz, short for Australia, Hydrangea involucrata 'hortensis' is a welcomed visitor each season.

So, if you are in the good old U.S.A you might like to order this book.

The sheer number of choices among Hydrangea species, hybrids, and cultivated varieties can be overwhelming even for the most advanced gardeners. How to choose from among the hundreds of mopheads, climbers, lacecaps, and oakleafs, to name just a few? And how to care for hydrangeas in American gardens, when nearly all the books offering advice about them come from England and Europe? Respected plantsman Michael A. Dirr comes to the rescue in this refreshingly forthright and practical guide to these distinctive shrubs and climbers.

0-88192-641-8, 236 pp, 199 color photos, 5 color paintings, 7-5/8 x 9-1/4", hardcover To be published June 2004 by Timber Press.

Did you know that Michael A. Dirr is a professor of horticulture at the University of Georgia? He is the author of eleven books, including Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs: An Illustrated Encyclopedia and the text and reference book, Manual of Woody Landscape Plants, and has published more than 300 scientific and popular papers and articles. His teaching, lectures, seminars, garden study tours, and plant introduction programs have contributed enormously to greater horticultural awareness. He has received the highest teaching and gardening awards from the University of Georgia, American Society of Horticultural Science, American Horticultural Society, American Nursery & Landscape Association, Massachusetts Horticultural Society, Southern Nursery Association, and Garden Club of America.

Hydrangeas are among the best-loved flowering shrubs and vines for American gardens. Their long-lasting blooms provide months of color from spring to the autumnal frosts; their adaptability under the extremes of cultivation (from USDA hardiness zones 3 to 10) makes them a sensible choice as well. However, the sheer number of Hydrangea species, hybrids, and cultivars can prove overwhelming even for the most advanced gardeners. How to choose from the hundreds of mopheads, lacecaps, climbers, and oakleafs, to name just a few? Respected plantsman Michael A. Dirr has written the first book to accurately describe the selection, care, and culture of hydrangeas for the length and breadth of North America. With practical "hands-in-the-soil" advice and detailed observation based on years of scientific research, Hydrangeas for American Gardens is an indispensable reference for all gardeners and hydrangea enthusiasts. Professor Dirr explains in understandable terminology the basic botanical categories of hydrangeas and how they've yielded the colorful hybrids that are treasured today. He enumerates the horticultural assets and liabilities of each type of hydrangea, and offers invaluable advice on which choices are best for which regions of North America --- the optimum choice for Seattle's misty climate might melt like butter in the steamy heat of Atlanta. Professor Dirr even provides a futuristic glimpse of the interesting and unusual species and hybrids --- including reblooming types --- that will be making their way into nurseries in the years ahead. With treatises on propagation, pruning, breeding, drying, design, and pests and diseases, this book will become the classic reference for gardeners in the United States and Canada.