Make Room for Hydrangeas in the Pollinator Garden

 

As August arrives, we find ourselves smack in the middle of peak butterfly season in the south. After watching for years at the Coastal Georgia Botanical Gardens in Savannah, Columbus Botanical Garden in Columbus, GA, and Callaway Botanical Gardens in Pine Mountain, GA, I have always been watching hydrangeas. 

 

Many will find this odd so let me explain. First, know that I am not talking about larval host plants. I’m not talking milkweeds, passion flowers, dill, tulip trees, or pipevines. I am talking about nectar plants. You are probably thinking you’ve been growing hydrangeas for years and never seen a pollinator. I will be quick to say that’s ok, we need shrubs with beautiful flowers in the landscape. 

 

We can, however, choose hydrangeas that are pollinator magnets. I have the photos to prove it, so let’s take a look at the marketplace. I am talking mostly Hydrangea paniculata.  Pinky Winky^® and the new Pinky Winky Prime^® are good examples. A close examination will show they have large sterile flowers that give us the proverbial show and go in the landscape, the “wow” factor. Among those sterile flowers are tiny, fertile flowers. Now, a lot of literature describes sterile flowers and the perfect flower florets, and I like that.  

 

But some in the industry want to call this lacecap, a term we have given more so to Hydrangea macrophylla and Hydrangea serrata varieties. I don’t like that. The flower structure doesn’t look like a cap. I’m simply a horticulturist with an opinion.  

 

So back to Pinky Winky^® and Pinky Winky Prime^®. I have already referred to the large sterile flowers as the Wow Factor in the landscape. A giant Eastern Tiger Swallowtail on these tiny fertile flowers is certainly a “wow” factor of a different sort—it's like Mother Nature’s Crescendo or applause. 

 

I’ve mentioned Eastern Tiger Swallowtails, but I have photos of Palamedes Swallowtails, Gulf Fritillaries, Red-banded Hairstreaks, Honeybees, large Tachnid Flies that look like bees, and other flying creatures like the Black-winged Dahana moth. In other words, a large Pinky Winky^® hydrangea can be a pollinator smorgasbord come July and August. 

 

But it is not just Pinky Winky^® Panicle Hydrangea Hydrangea paniculata, Proven Winners has other varieties like Quick Fire^®, Little Quick Fire^® and the dwarf Tiny Quick Fire^®. The early summer butterfly season can kick off with new cascading hydrangeas Fairytrail Bride^® and 2025 introductions Fairytrail Green^® and Fairytrail White^®.  

 

These hydrangeas open the door for creative plant partnerships in the habitat garden. Pollinator magnets like Meteor Shower^® Verbena bonariensis, Truffula^™ Pink Globe Amaranth, and Luscious^® lantanas all make great companions with the hydrangeas. By all means, don’t forget Proven Winners' great buddleias. Also, consider adding songbird-loving plant partners like Pearl Glam^® Beautyberry to your habitat. 

 

I have Limelight Prime^®, Little Lime Punch^®, and Puffer Fish^® for show and go, but the camera always comes out for the visitors to my varieties with both sterile and fertile florets, like Pinky Winky^® and the new Pinky Winky Prime^®.