© The Dabney Nursery
Plant: Ruby Slippers - Hydrangea
Hydrangea · Hydrangea quercifolia 'Ruby Slippers'
Size: 3 gal
Light
Bloom
Mature size
More about this plant
A compact oakleaf hydrangea with bold, leathery, oak like lobed leaves that are dark green in summer and turn orange, red and purple in fall. Showy upright panicles of creamy white flowers open in late spring and early summer and fade to pink and then tan. The stems exfoliate to reveal cinnamon brown bark, giving winter interest. It grows in full sun or partial shade in well drained, organically rich soil, tolerates drought and dry soil once established, and its flowers draw butterflies and other insects while songbirds eat the seeds. Use it as a specimen, an accent, a border shrub or in mass plantings.
- Full Sun
- Grows to 8 ft tall and 8 ft wide
- Blooms in spring, summer
- Hardy in USDA zones 5-9
- Deciduous foliage
- Native plant
Plant description
A compact oakleaf hydrangea with bold, leathery, oak like lobed leaves that are dark green in summer and turn orange, red and purple in fall. Showy upright panicles of creamy white flowers open in late spring and early summer and fade to pink and then tan. The stems exfoliate to reveal cinnamon brown bark, giving winter interest. It grows in full sun or partial shade in well drained, organically rich soil, tolerates drought and dry soil once established, and its flowers draw butterflies and other insects while songbirds eat the seeds. Use it as a specimen, an accent, a border shrub or in mass plantings.
- Flowers
- Showy, erect, pyramidal panicles of creamy white flowers 4 to 12 inches long, fragrant, fading to pink and then tan.
- Foliage
- Dark green, large, opposite, simple, bold and leathery three to seven lobed oak like leaves, three to eight inches long, turning orange, red and purple in fall.
- Bark & stems
- Exfoliating branches with brown papery bark that peels to reveal cinnamon coloured bark underneath, and upright stems with prominent lenticels.
- Pruning
- Blooms on old wood; prune only if needed, immediately after flowering.
- Native range
- Southeastern USA
