THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, AUGUST 29, 2025 Page 13 Saugus Gardens in the Summer Here’s what’s blooming in town this week to make your walks more enjoyable By Laura Eisener W hile I had plenty to say about hydrangeas earlier in the summer, we are by no means finished with them! Panicle hydrangeas, at their peak of bloom now, are among the most adaptable of the hydrangeas. They are able to tolerate quite a bit of hot and dry weather without drooping. They are also the most likely to bloom reliably every year, since unlike some other hydrangea species their flowers are produced in the spring of the same year they bloom. This means that a cold or stressful winter is less likely to have any effect on their flowers than on the bigleaf hydrangeas. They can also be expected to thrive in sunny locations, while the bigleaf hydrangeas need afternoon shade. The colors are usually white, with some varieties producing pink tones, but they will not have blue or purple flowers. The large shrub on the Taylor Street side of Town Hall is covered with snowy white flower panicles, with all flowers in the sterile large petaled form. This is probably the variety sometimes called pee gee hydrangea; the first two words standing for the letters of its scientific species and variety name (Hydrangea paniculata grandiflora). There are some newer varieties that have similar flower forms. The lack of fertile flowers makes the clusters especially large and showy, but it means that new plants cannot grow from seed. They need to be propagated from cuttings in order to make new plants. Panicle hydrangeas are native to China, Japan and Korea. They are among the most cold hardy of the hydrangeas, and able to thrive even in the colder parts of New England (not Mt. Washington, but almost everywhere else). They are known for blooming for several months: from July until September or even October. There are quite a few popular varieties. ‘Limelight’ is a tall variety with flowers that start out pale green and turn white at peak bloom. ‘Little Lime’ have similarly shaped flower clusters, but the plant is shorter, usually around 4’5’ tall. Another white variety for a location that needs a shorter shrub is ‘Bobo.’ Some varieties are inclined to have some pink shades in the blossoms and may become brighter pink as the flowers fade and dry. ‘Quickfire’ and ‘Pinky Winky’ are two varieties that can be expected to do this. A shorter hydrangea variety with pink tones is ‘Strawberry Sundae,’ which stays in the 4’-5’ range. If they need to be pruned, the best time for this species is November through March, while they This panicle hydrangea on the back corner of Town Hall is quite a spectacle in late summer. (Photo courtesy of Laura Eisener) are dormant. When people speak of tree hydrangeas, they mean panicle hydrangea shrubs, which have been trained when young to have a single straight trunk rather than multiple stems emerging from the ground. It is not a different species of plant – all of the taller varieties of panicle hydrangeas can be trained into a tree form. They are usually more expensive than the shrub version, since quite a bit of time and effort has gone into the reshaping of the young shrubs so that by the time they are available in a nursery they do in The panicles, or flower clusters, are cone shaped in this species of hydrangea. (Photo courtesy of Laura Eisener) fact have a tree shape. Tree hydrangeas make good foGARDENS | SEE PAGE 22 A sea of petunias bloom in a raised bed beneath the Roller World Plaza sign on Route 1. (Photo courtesy of Laura Eisener) The wavy stripes on the pink zebra foliage vary on every leaf and include pink, white, several shades of green, and sometimes purple. (Photo courtesy of Laura Eisener) This pink zebra corn is grown for its striped foliage as well as its dark purple popcorn kernels. (Photo courtesy of Laura Eisener)
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