Name:   Summer Crush® Hydrangea

Type of Plant:  Hydrangea macrophylla (Registered name ‘Bailmacfive’ PP30,359) aka a big leaf Hydrangea, in the Endless Summer brand with the name Summer Crush®.

Why I Love this Plant:  First, I love the size of this Hydrangea – it grows to about 3 feet tall and wide. Secondly, I love that it’s one of the more bud-hardy and stem-sturdy big leaf Hydrangeas…even after the polar vortex below zero temperatures of 2023, my Summer Crush had flowers when other macrophyllas did not.

I also love the color of the flowers. They will be a rich, deep pink in alkaline soil and a deep blue to purple in acidic locations. In my naturally acidic soil, Summer Crush is purple.

A Word to the Wise:  Like other big leaf Hydrangeas, the only pruning you should do on Summer Crush is to remove any deadwood in May. Water deeply less often. If you plant this where it gets some morning or late-day sun, but is shaded during the heat of the day, the flowers will last into the fall.

Early in the summer, like many big leaf hydrangea flowers, Summer Crush has creamy-green flowers that slowly add color.

If you grow Summer Crush in alkaline soils the flowers will be pink.

In my acidic soil the flowers are purple. This is how they look at the end of June…they will be a darker purple at the end of July.

We also love Summer Crush® since it is stem-sturdy and bud-hardy. In my garden this plant is 3 feet tall and 4 feet wide after 5 years. A good, smaller size that can fit in many gardens.