Panicle Hydrangea           hi-DRAN-je-a pan-ik-u-LA-ta

• Large deciduous shrub or small tree, 7-25 ft (2.1-7.6 m) tall, shoots pubescent then glabrous.  Leaves simple, opposite or in whorls of 3's, ovate, 7-15 cm long, acuminate, rounded or tapered at base, toothed.  Flowers in panicles, conical or pyramidal, 15-20 cm long, with a few white-pink sterile flowers and numerous yellow-white, fertile flowers, downy stalks; blooms in summer into fall.
• Sun to part shade, best in rich, well-drained, moist soil.  Tough plant.  Flowers on new wood, so it can be pruned after blooming (i.e., fall, winter, early sping).
• Hardy to USDA Zone 3      Native to Japan and eastern and southern China.
• Many cultivars.  The cultivar used here as an example of a H. paniculata, is ‘Unique’, it has an upright, rounded shape, may grow finally to a size of 8 x 10 ft (2.4-3 m), dark green leaves, with large, white-pinkish flower clusters.  It is a seedling of ‘Floribunda’, introduced in 1968.  A popular selection is ‘Grandiflora’, also known as PeeGee.  It grows to about 10-15 ft (3-4.5 m) tall; its white flower clusters are large, 10-15 inches (25-30 cm) long, upright, with mostly sterile flowers.
• paniculata: flowers in panicles (panicle: a branched indeterminate inflorescence [flower cluster] with flowers maturing from the bottom upwards).