It’s the fourth day of the month so that means its time once again for the You Can Grow That! meme started by C.L. Fornari over at Whole Life Gardening.
You Can Grow That! is a celebration of gardens and plants and the joy they bring to our lives. Garden bloggers from across the country highlight plants they think other gardeners should know about.
Tickled Pink
New Pinky Winky hydrangea flowers are simply white. They begin to turn to pink in a few weeks.
My contribution this month is ‘PinkyWinky’ hydrangea, a star of my late summer and fall garden here in southwestern Connecticut with its long, elegant panicle flowers that fade from white to two-tone white and pink and finally to a deep rose color.
Pinky Winky (Hydrangea paniculata ‘Pinky Winky’) is a panicle, or peegee, hydrangea without all the droopy, floppy stems characteristic of many of the more traditional peegees. It’s deep red stems are stiff and upright, supporting the sleek blooms all season long.
♦ Bi-color flowers are over one foot long.
♦ Blooms for months ~ from mid-summer right through to the first frost.
♦ Exceptionally drought-tolerant, especially for a hydrangea.
♦ Prefers a location in full sun to partial shade and moist, well-drained soil.
♦ Pinky Winky can grow to about 6′ – 8′ tall and almost as wide.
♦ Pinky Winky blooms on new wood so can be pruned in late winter or early spring without the fear of losing future flowers.
Both bi-color and ‘plain’ white flowers can be seen at the same time on this Pinky Winky hydrangea shrub.
In The Pink
Pinky Winky hydrangea and coral bark maple in mid-October in a newly planted mixed bed.
Incorporating a Pinky Winky hydrangea into your garden is easy. You can plant a single shrub as a specimen in a foundation planting or near a patio or terrace.
You could plant multiple shrubs for use as a long-blooming hedge. Shrubs grow very quickly. My Pink Winky started out as a 3-gallon shrub and just 3 seasons later is already 5′ tall.
Pinky Winky would also make a colorful addition to a mixed border since her rough texture will complement many other shrubs and perennials. Try planting with other summer and fall-blooming perennials such as ornamental grasses, coneflower and New England aster.
Before you head over and check out the other You Can Grow That! posts, please take a minute to share what your favorite plant is for adding color to your late summer garden.
Debbie, this is certainly a great You Can Grow That! choice. Just one thing to add … gardeners dealing with deer should fence young hydrangea paniculata until they grow tall enough to survive deer browsing. Deer will still munch on low hanging leaves, but won’t be able to reach taller branches or totally defoliate the entire shrub.
To tell you the truth, I don’t really have any issues with deer eating my Pinky Winky. I also have a Quick Fire which they seem to leave alone, at least for now. Although the deer do seem to find my other peegees irresistible so I am always spraying my Limelight and Tardiva.
No droopy, floppy stems? Hmmm…maybe a good replacement for my Limelight. I cut it back hard every spring to control size and it flowers beautifully but one hard rain and the stems splay out permanently for the season flattening all neighbors in the process.
Sue, I have the same issue with my Limelight. Pinky Winky has a totally different look since its branches are very stiff and the flowers don’t droop at all.
Your picture of Pinky Winky with the coral bark maple is a beautiful combo! I was intrigued with Pinky Winky a couple years ago but the plants I saw looked to have very muddy colored blooms. It’s good to know you have grown it and you get really pretty rosy blooms on them — I’ll have to reconsider now! I grow Tardiva, which is a typical white panicle hydrangea, that eventually fades to a soft brown with just a hint of dusty rose.
Laurrie, The color of the flowers is definitely not muddy. In fact, the rose hues seem to intensify as the fall progresses which is a nice treat.
Oxydendrum arboreum, the Lily-of-the-Valley tree is my favorite. The flowers that give it its name come on late in August and last right on through the changing of the leaves from green to brilliant red. It is VERY slow growing, so a bit hard to plan into a bed. We have it free standing where we can enjoy the show. Pinky Winky sounds like a find.
Ricki, Oxydendrum arboreum has been on my wish list for years but I’ve hesitated for exactly the reason you mentioned – it’s so slow growing. I’ve still searching for a decent sized tree to plant so that I don’t have to wait so long to enjoy the show.
Pinky winky, I do like the look of but the name…. I see myself going to the garden centre and asking if they have Pinky Winky’s….
But! I do really like the look and the fact that they do not droop because that is one of the main reasons I am reluctant to get Hydrangea. It always looks so sad after a heavy rain which we get plenty here.
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Okay Debbie this is going to be a long comment. Today I went to the Floriade in Venlo The Netherlands. The Floriade is the largest agricultural show in the world. After spending a few hours I went to the exit and saw that they were also selling plants, I just had to take a look right? So in between a lot of plants I saw one that caught my eye, with pretty red stems and little conical flowers. I turned the name tag and low and behold PINKY WINKY! I bought the plant there and then! On my way back in the shuttle bus a guy looked at me and the plant and said ” Ahh a memento” I said with a big grin “PINKY WINKY”, the guy turned away, he must have thought I was a lunatic. So thanks to you, YCGT and C.L. Fornari I am now a proud owner of a PINKY WINKY!
Love this hydrangea and it was on its way to blooming nicely until the drought and then only the oakleaf bloomed and it was in a rain garden….