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

• Large, broadleaf, 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 spring).
• Hardy to USDA Zone 3      Native to Japan and eastern and southern China.
• Many cultivars.  Dirr (2009) describes over 30.
• paniculata: flowers in panicles (panicle: a branched indeterminate inflorescence [flower cluster] with flowers maturing from the bottom upwards).