Hydrangea paniculata White Moth

Hydrangea paniculata 'White Moth' is a remarkable variety. It stands out with an undisciplined habit, resembling a sprawling and irregular bush. It bears huge, globular, white and vaporous panicles, which take on a pretty green hue in autumn. Its growth rate is quite fast. It is more accommodating than the large-leaf hybrids, and therefore deserves to be highlighted, alone, for its unique charm. Its long summer flowering is attractive until frost.

Hydrangea paniculata belongs to the Hydrangeaceae family, native to China and Japan. Hydrangea paniculata are resistant to drought and easy to grow even in non-acidic soil. They bloom generously from June until frost. Planted in the sun, their inflorescences change colour in the autumn.

'White Moth', derived from the famous cultivar 'Unique', forms an irregular but fairly compact bushy mass, quickly reaching 1.8m (6ft) in height and 2m (7ft) in spread, which remains moderate for a paniculate hydrangea. From the beginning of July, it blossoms on one-year-old wood with large, conical or spherical panicles, sometimes reaching 25cm (10in) in diameter and 30cm (12in) in length. They gather a cloud of single sterile florets, carried by long pedicels, evolving from a white hue to a beautiful pale green, sometimes tinged with soft pink, when the bush is planted in a sunny location. This inflorescence, where a few tiny cream sterile florets mix, bends elegantly, giving an impression of opulence and lightness. 'White Moth' has a ramified and disorderly vegetation, and branches covered with dark green ovate leaves, turning yellow in autumn, before disappearing in winter.

Hydrangea paniculata differs from its cousin Hydrangea macrophylla with its good tolerance to sun, sea spray, and relative drought. When planted in any good garden soil, without too much limestone, 'White Moth' shows rapid growth. This is a very hardy variety, to be planted alone for its strong presence, in a hedge or in a group planting, or even in a light undergrowth, mixed with other hydrangeas, to play with contrasts and shapes. You can also plant it with grasses such as miscanthus, Panicum virgatum 'Squaw', and Stipa, as well as fuchsia magellanica. At Vaterival, they chose to match it with Miscanthus 'Cosmopolitan', variegated with white, in an original and refined scene.