How do you recognise Panicle hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata)?

Leaf

Alain Bigou, Tela Botanica · CC BY-SA 2.0

Panicle hydrangea

Hydrangea paniculata Siebold

Also known as: Panicled hydrangea

Family: Hydrangeaceae

2 to 4 m tall

Planted in garden borders and hedges, moist soils

Flowering: July – September

Full sun

Part shade

Hardy to about -25°C

❓ How do you recognise this plant?

Unlike the bigleaf hydrangea, whose colour depends on soil pH, the flowers of the panicled hydrangea stay white and then naturally turn pink with age, regardless of the soil. The bigleaf hydrangea has flowers grouped in round balls whose colour depends on soil pH; the panicled hydrangea has flowers in large conical panicles, always white then turning pink.

🍃 Leaves

Opposite, ovate, toothed, deciduous

🌸 Flowers

White turning pink with time, held in large upright conical panicles

🍎 Fruits

Small dry capsule

🪵 Bark

Brown twigs, bark peeling slightly with age

🗺️ Distribution

Native to East Asia; widely grown in France as an ornamental shrub

🐝 Value for pollinators

The small fertile central flowers attract a few insects; the large outer flowers are sterile

✂️ Horticultural uses

Border shrub valued for its late summer flowering in large panicles

⚠️ Possible toxicity

All parts slightly toxic if ingested (cyanogenic compounds), as in other hydrangeas, causing digestive upset.

🌱 Known cultivars

Limelight

Large conical lime-green panicles that turn creamy white then raspberry pink in late summer; very free-flowering and hardy, it is one of the best-selling panicled hydrangeas in nurseries.

Grandiflora (PeeGee)

Also called 'PeeGee', this historic cultivar bears huge conical panicles that can exceed 30 cm, creamy white turning pink; it is the variety that started the fashion for panicled hydrangeas back in the 19th century.

⚠️ Look-alike species

Panicle hydrangea

Hydrangea paniculata

Bigleaf hydrangea

Hydrangea macrophylla

The bigleaf hydrangea has flowers grouped in round balls whose colour depends on soil pH; the panicled hydrangea has flowers in large conical panicles, always white then turning pink.

🌿 Other Hydrangeaceae to discover

Bigleaf hydrangea

Hydrangea macrophylla

Mock orange

Philadelphus coronarius

ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.

🌱 This database is constantly evolving — species and information are added and corrected regularly. Spotted a mistake? Report it below.