Common names for plants can often create confusion, especially among botanical nerds like myself. The main reason we like to rattle off multi-syllabic Latin names is that there is never any question as to what plant we are talking about. In the case of common names however, many different plants can share similar common names depending on what part of the country one comes from… My point here is that while common names can be misleading, in the case of heaths and heathers, nobody really cares! Not even the nursery professionals.
As this glorious PNW summer weather continues, let us continue delving into the world of Hydrangeas. It is time for episode three, the grand finale of the Hydrangea trilogy… at least for the year 2025. In the last couple of weeks we have talked Hydrangeas for partial shade (Big-Leaf or Hydrangea macrophylla cvs) and others for a bit more sun like Oakleaf types (Hydrangea quercifolia cvs) and Smooth types (Hydrangea arborescens cvs). Now we get to talk about one of the most useful species for sunny gardens, Hydrangea paniculata, or what we call Panicle Hydrangeas…