A very robust shrub with soft blue to dusky pink sterile florets and deep blue fertile ones. I am very fond of the way the color on the sterile flowers is stained irregularly, as if it were actively infusing the petals with ink. It flowers heavily and repeatedly from mid-summer onwards and is a good lacecap for drying. The name Blue Wave was applied by Haworth-Booth in the 1950s, but it was first introduced in 1904, one of three original seedlings of the old Japanese cultivar Mariesii that were raised by the French nurseryman Lemoine. Lemoine called it Hydrangea Mariesii Perfecta, and Haworth-Booth renamed it to accord with international rules of horticultural nomenclature. Description Courtesy of Vintage Gardens.

From the Graton garden of our own Candace Saxman comes this delight which blooms dusky pink in her garden. We once believed this to be the well-loved lacecap called Blue Wave, one of a trio of lacecaps first developed by Lemoine in 1902, which for a long time were the only lacecaps grown outside Japan. Yet, futher study has led us to conclude it is different. Large sterile florets can develop rich, gentian blue coloring in acid soils, but are usually marbled in color. The petals are rounded and tend toward a powder-blue or cloudy blue hue in acid soils. Description Courtesy of Vintage Gardens.

One of the most successful of the Swiss hybrids known as the Teller series, all named for winged creatures, here, the Pheasant. Fasan colors to a beautiful deep rose red or steely blue and produces many flowers in the outer ring. These have large, cupped and pointed petals which are veined white as they open. Easily confused with Blaumeise, Fasans sterile flowers cup upwardly in a tight crown as they first open. Blooms twice. From Meier, 1979. Description Courtesy of Vintage Gardens.

This is an older cultivar which was renamed when found in a florists shop in England. Large sterile florets of bright brick pink tinted dusky red surround a mass of fertile florets which are quite pale in tint. In acid soils these flowers can turn a blue-purple tint which is marbled with brick red. Most beautiful though in alkaline conditions where it makes a vibrant deep pink. While the origin of this variety is still unknown, there is much about it that points to a relationship with the Mariesii group and to Sir Joseph Banks. Description Courtesy of Vintage Gardens.

A variety which rides the rail on color, tending toward pink in acid soils but often showing a turquoise blue central fertile floret in each sterile flower; it will range from deep salmon pink to magenta or purple. The individual flowers are large, the heads modest or smallish, and the plant grows bushy and over average size. It is from Schadendorff, circa 1928, the German breeder who raised three very successful varieties in one year; Altona, Europa and Hamburg. This belongs very much with them and dries beautifully, tinting brick red as it ages. Description Courtesy of Vintage Gardens.

A dwarf variety similar to Pia making a small, spreading mound which is best placed with very bright light or partial to full sun to encourage good bloom. Crisp florets composed of long petals are rosy crimson aging to a grayish pink. We owe a debt of thanks to Don Howe of Country Gardens in Fall City, Washington for the plant we grow of this; Don sent it to us as a gift thinking it might prefer the sunnier climate of Northern California. Hrnli has been a splendid performer for us and we recommend it for warmer climates. Kobel & Schtz, 1952. Description Courtesy of Vintage Gardens.

A beautiful hydrangea with a crisp and orderly appearance, flower heads domed and symetrical, and crowded to the point of cupping the blooms, yet seemingly open and loose at the same time. Petals are round, lobed and dentate, each with the bud of a fertile floret as the eye. Rich blue or deep pink, blooming prolifically. A favorite in the American florist trade, and an excellent garden plant. Compact. Steiniger, Germany, mid-20th. century. Description Courtesy of Vintage Gardens.

Capable of sending up strong basal stems that terminate in majestic globes of flower, this cultivar seems to be related to the Otaksa group and is rather reminiscent of General Vicomtesse de Vibraye. It can color lighter or deeper that that fine hydrangea, but is always a pleasing clear tint. Introduced in 1930 by the French breeder, Barillet. Corinne Mallet praises this as superb for drying, and we find it turns a lovely aquamarine blue as the flowers age. Description Courtesy of Vintage Gardens.

A large-flowered lacecap in the style of the Teller lacecaps with round sterile petals which concentrate their color toward the center of the flower, in rich purplish pink or light blue. This domed flower head is often filled with extra sterile florets giving a very sumptuous appearance. Fertile flowers are lavender pink in soils of low acidity. Circa 1960. Description Courtesy of Vintage Gardens.

Beautiful florets of Damask pink or Periwinkle blue are oddly reflexed when fully open, pressing back upon the flowerhead as if to close all the gaps. The facetted result is jewel-like in effect. The flowers come large and small in the same head, and the heads are small and compact, irregular in shape. A charming, compact cultivar of exquisite coloring. Wintergalen, 1914. Description Courtesy of Vintage Gardens.

British hydrangea specialist Haworth-Booth considered this to be a reversion of the ancient Chinese cultivar known in the West as Joseph Banks which we believe may be identical with Otaksa Monstrosa. Large lacecap flowers which are white with pale pink or pale blue fertile flowers, the sterile blossoms also tinting blue or pink with maturity. A delicate effect is achieved in contrast with the leathery foliage and very strong habit of growth. Haworth-Booth tested his idea that this was a wild Japanese species by importing the coastal Japanese species for comparison. He believed this to be a separate species which he called Hydrangea maritima. He may have been the only Westerner to do so until very recently. Only for mild winter gardens. Description Courtesy of Vintage Gardens.

Small flower heads are compact, exaggerating the size of the sterile florets which are so charmingly arranged in an outfacing circle, white changing to pale pink, the fertile flowers rosy pink to ceanothus blue. This blooms so heavily that the plants are like spring-blooming lacecap Viburnums in their abundance of bloom. Introduced to the West and renamed by the famous Exbury Gardens of Lionel Rothschild, circa 1950. Description Courtesy of Vintage Gardens.

An elegant lacecap hydrangea with few sterile flowers of three or four white petals set around a close-knit bunch of lavender-blue fertile flowers. A crisp and striking flower on a very vigorous plant, Veitchii is one of the great heirloom hydrangeas of Western gardens. It was brought from Japan by Maries in 1861, but was grown in Japanese gardens before that. Few lacecap hydrangeas were grown in 19th and early 20th Western gardens, yet this was widely known and admired. Description Courtesy of Vintage Gardens.

A vibrant pink lacecap with large sterile florets which project outward from the central fertile ones on long, white flower stalks. The petals are scalloped and round like saucers from a fancy baroque tea set. Very large sterile flowers open to reveal blue stamens, and a starry set of pink sepals. Quite striking and lovely. Meier, 1979. Description Courtesy of Vintage Gardens.

This very old Japanese cultivar offers a wealth of lacecap flowers with few sterile florets. These are white quickly turning pink from the petal tips inwards, the pink dotting with red as the blooms further age. Handsome lettuce-green foliage is deeply serrate and tinted red. Very similar to Beni-gaku, this is a type that is known in Japanese gardens. Considered a form of Hydrangea japonica by Haworth-Booth, this received the RHS Award of Merit in 1939. Description Courtesy of Vintage Gardens.