Hydrangea valley
Two acres of Hydrangeas border the banks of Mallard Pond and are mirrored in its tranquil water. These are ‘Mop-head’ Hydrangea macrophylla and their vibrant ‘Oxford and Cambridge’ blue colouring is due to Trebah’s rich acid soil.
They were planted in the 1950s and the cut blooms were sent to Covent Garden flower market to raise income for the garden. The plants are now over 50 years old but continue to bloom beautifully year upon year. It takes the gardeners about three weeks to prune the Hydrangeas in March and it is this careful cultivation that promotes the large flower heads and new vigour at the base of the plants.
Casting clouds of china blue across Mallard Pond
Facts about Hydrangeas
- The Mop-head Hydrangeas were introduced to the UK from Japan by a Swedish botanist
- Hydrangea quercifolia is the oak-leafed Hydrangea with large, strongly lobed leaves
- The flowers of Hydrangeas can be blue in some soils and pink in others
