Name: Hydrangea macrophylla × serrata ‘SMNHSME’ USPP 34,327, Can PBRAF aka Let’s Dance Sky View^® 

Type of Plant:  A smaller growing Hydrangea that is a reliable bloomer in zones 4 – 9.  

Why I Love This Plant: I planted my Sky View Hydrangea in 2022, and in the early winter of 2023 we had temperatures of -9° F. Needless to say, most of my mophead Hydrangeas died to the ground. Most varieties grew back from the roots, but had few or no flowers last summer. Sky View, however, was one of the Let’s Dance Series from Proven Winners Color Choice Shrubs that grew back from the roots with a flower on each new stem. Yes: A Hydrangea I can recommend to people in northern areas!

Not only did it flower early and fully, Hydrangea Sky View has lovely, round mophead type flowers. In my acidic soils they started out a pale mix of white, green, lavender, and blue. As the flowers aged, the color changed to a mix of blues and pinks, ending up in the fall as a medium lavender blue. I had no trouble seeing why it was named Sky View.

A Word to the Wise:  This Hydrangea is said to grow 24 to 36” high. In my garden on the first year, after dying to the ground, it grew to 24”. The smaller size makes this a good plant to put in containers, flower gardens, foundation planting, or in the front of taller shrubs in a mixed border. (If you grow this plant in a container and live in a zone 6 or colder, over-winter the pot or box in an unheated garage or other cold-but-

Like all Hydrangeas that are either macrophylla or serrata varieties, the flowers will last the longest when they are protected from hot mid-day sun. This is especially true if you live in an area where it’s hot in the summer. Plant them where they get early morning sun and afternoon shade, and the blooms will last longer. 

This is how my Let’s Dance Sky View looked in June. All of these flowers were on the ends of the new growth that came up from ground after a cold winter. You can see that when the flowers are new, they are a mix of colors.

Here is how Sky View looked from late June into July, as the colors began to develop. If you grow this shrub in alkaline soil, the flowers will be pink. In my naturally acidic soil (around 5.5 pH) this type of Hydrangea is blue.

Later in July into August, the color deepened on my Hydrangea Let’s Dance Sky View.

In September the flowers aged to lavender. Most of my mophead hydrangeas (macrophylla varieties) turn to shades of lavender, green and burgundy in the fall. That is the time when the flowers are good for drying.