Placement help for two new hydrangeas (Together vs Peppermint)

11 years ago

Our local Lowe's had a 1/2 off sale on hydrangeas at just the time that my husband and I were looking for plants to put on the north side of our house. I imagine this is just a local sale, because the hydrangea bushes were ugly-- lots of powdery fungus spots on the leaves. I couldn't resist though, as the price was the same for a gallon size plant as I've paid for a 3 inch pot before, and I don't mind nursing them back to health for a good cost.

Forever and Ever Together hydrangea
Together -- Worst condition. I love the flowers, though (and it did have a bloom so I could verify it was labeled correctly). I was concerned about disease spreading to the other bush or the other plants we purchased, so I removed all the infected leaves... leaving it with about 10 leaves.

Peppermint -- this was probably the healthiest plant in the entire store, and the only one we found with no leaf spots. Also blooming-- I've attached a picture (I don't think anyone would want to see a picture of the ugly duckling Together, with blooms removed, right now).

Based on the tags, I thought Together would get a lot bigger-- 3-5 feet wide and 2-3 feet tall, while Peppermint is supposed to stay between 2-3 feet tall/ wide.

The potential locations are nearly full shade, as it's against the north brick wall of a two-story house. One is on the east side of the porch, and will probably get a bit more sun, but is a smaller bed-- 3'x3' maximum. The other bed is much larger, and has more room to sprawl. I did a quick review check for both cultivars, and based on that, I'm not sure that the Together will get as big as the tag states. I also can't tell from reviews which is more likely to bloom in the heavier shade.

Any guidance or experience with these two cultivars (particularly related to size or shade blooming) would be appreciated! Thanks!

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Comments (4)

October_Gardens
11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
From what I've seen, Together only gets about 2' tall and max 3' wide. It would be better for a small bed, or If a bed were 3-4' deep I would be more than comfortable keeping this up front. Together is also very susceptible to powdery mildew for some reason, so I'd keep it in an area that doesn't get too much "damp shade". The mildew doesn't do a whole lot aside from making the leaves look crappy.

Peppermint, once established, easily hits 3x3'. Both have their own cool factor but once you start getting the thick stems and giant blooms on Peppermint your socks will be knocked off! As for placement of Peppermint, it is very upright so it would probably go in the "middle" of a medium sized bed.
livreosa
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks, springwood! Hmmm, based on your feedback the together will fit better in the small bed and the peppermint in the bigger bed. My husband likes the idea of having the hydrangeas framing the back stairs, but I want to be sure I have them planted with enough space to so I won't need to prune them back every year!

Very reassuring to hear that the mildew is't pathological, just ugly-- I probably would have left the leaves on if I had known for certain, but I wanted to be safe. It makes sense that the Together is more susceptible to the spots-- there wasn't a single Together in the store that wasn't covered.

Peppermint's current bloom is about the size of my hand, which is pretty huge for the size of the plant! They both have really lovely big leaves, too, compared to my existing hydrangeas. I have some dwarf hydrangeas in the front yard but their foliage is less dramatically large (and surprisingly, so far the everlasting revolutions in full sun are doing great this year-- of course it's been very moist and only the last week has been hot, so it's probably too early to tell).
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October_Gardens
11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
I think Peppermint has some of the most attractive leaves, period. Round and shiny combined with very pronounced veins. And here's this photo I dug out from July 2013, after the last mild winter. Contrast Peppermint with neighbors Trophee and Lemon Daddy:

2013 Peppermint picture

The stems can bend down about 4-6" under rain weight but don't seem to flop. At that time the plant was only two feet tall. Now it grows to 3 and is about to do the same thing. Can't wait!
livreosa
Original Author
11 years ago
Oh, wow, that's gorgeous! I hope mine looks like that in a few years. The contrast with the lemon daddy foliage is excellent, but wow-- with the foliage and the huge blooms it really stands out even among other healthy, beautiful hydrangeas!

It's gotten very hot here, but I'm hoping to get them in-ground this weekend-- if I get up early it should be doable (it's 92 degrees Fahrenheit right now with a heat index of 102).