Panicle hydrangea 'Vanille Fraise'

Panicle hydrangea 'Vanille Fraise' (Hydrangea paniculata 'Vanille Fraise') is a strawberry-and-vanilla ice cream cone on a shrub. The huge, broadly pyramidal panicles open dazzling white, fill with strawberry pink from the base, and by autumn the whole head turns pinkish red.

This is a plant for space: 1.8-2.4 m tall and 1.2-1.5 m wide, a lawn specimen or an informal flowering hedge rather than a container dweller like the dwarf Petite cultivars. The panicles are excellent cut and dry well for winter bouquets, and the shrub is hardy to -40 °C.

Key characteristics:

• What makes it special: The name means "vanilla and strawberry"; the cultivar also copes well with urban conditions.
• Dimensions: 1.8-2.4 m tall and 1.2-1.5 m wide at 10 years.
• Hardiness: Hardy to -40 °C (USDA zone 3).
• Flowering: From July to September it carries white panicles that gradually turn pink to pinkish red.
• Light: Full sun or partial shade; in sun keep the soil steadily moist.
• Soil: It takes clay, loam and sand with pH from acid to alkaline, and grows best in organically rich, evenly moist, well-drained soil.
• Watering: Moderate, even watering: never let it dry out, and the one thing it dislikes is standing water at the roots.
• Care: It flowers on the current year's shoots, so it responds to pruning in late winter or early spring.
• Landscape use: A specimen, a large mixed-border group, a loose flowering hedge and fine material for cutting.
• Origin: A French selection from Pepinieres Renault; the registered cultivar name is 'Renhy', and in the USA it is sold as Vanilla Strawberry.