From classic blues and pinks to color-twisting purples and reds, hydrangeas bring dynamic hues across the season. With interest from summer into fall, it’s hard to beat the cold-hardy, durable, and floriferous woody ornamentals. In shining colors, they earn their spot in the border, container, foundation planting, and hedge.

Whether a reblooming cultivar or one with long-lasting blooms, we can rely on hydrangeas for full-flowered, abundant color. The long bloom season extends as they dry on the stem and in floral arrangements.

Fall is prime for adding more of the favorites to our collection, with new cultivars in production for unique hydrangea colors and improved performance. In varying sizes, they suit a variety of garden spaces, in shades to match any scheme.

‘Incrediball® Blush’

Sturdy stems hold soft blush flowers with ease.

Hydrangea arborescens, wild or smooth hydrangea, is a U.S. native species that grows across varying climates with superlative cold-hardiness. The species is white and lime green, but newer cultivars in pink, rose, mauve, and cerise brighten the display.

‘Incrediball® Blush’ is a pretty-in-pink showstopper with huge soft blush blooms. The delicate silvery-pink petals age to deep rose and green in autumn. The shrubs are vigorous with sturdy stems that support the massive flowers. The sweet shrub is easy-care and blooms from early summer until frost for late-season color.

‘Pop Star®’

Compact growth delivers bold color in any small space.

‘Pop Star®’ is part of the Endless Summer® series and a bigleaf hydrangea. Endless Summer® features large, glossy, deep green, serrated leaves to complement its bountiful mophead flower clusters. Foliage turns burgundy red in fall for added hydrangea colors, and flowers left on the plant persist in dried form into winter.

‘Pop Star®’ is small and robust, with bold color and a dense, leafy habit. This bigleaf dwarf hybrid cultivar grows only a few feet tall and wide but produces loads of flower clusters in vivid blue or bright pink, depending on soil pH. The rich flower pigments pop against the dense, dark green foliage. 

‘Pop Star®’ is showy in a group for low-growing color or a singular container specimen. An excellent option for hydrangea color in small spaces, it brings recurrent lacecap blooms.

‘Quick Fire®’

Bright white flowers blush pink, then turn a warm red.

Hydrangea paniculata has showy pyramidal blooms, tightly packed with individual flowers. Panicle hydrangeas are adaptable and durable, tolerating more sun than other varieties, even in warm climates. They adapt to varying soils and occasional dry spells, though consistent moisture is best for flowering.

‘Quick Fire®’ is a panicle variety that boasts color-twisting petals that transition almost magically. Blooms emerge bright white and turn pink in summer, maturing to deep rose and red in autumn.

To further highlight fall, leaves turn gold and purple-red at the end of the season. This color-shifting panicle hydrangea is one of the earliest varieties to bloom for a long season of color in flower and foliage.

‘Quick Fire®’ is low-maintenance. They bloom on new wood, meaning cold winters won’t impact buds. Prune plants back by one-third in late winter to rejuvenate growth and promote flowering on sturdy stems.

‘Bluebird’

Soil pH shifts the blooms from sky blue to rose.

Hydrangea serrata, or mountain hydrangea, is among the cold-hardy hydrangea crew. Similar to bigleaf hydrangeas (H. macrophylla), mountain varieties have a compact form with scaffolding lacecap blooms in blues and pinks.

The easy-care shrubs boast a long season of color and fall interest with vibrant foliage. Pollinators visit the fertile florets (not present in all hydrangeas), and birds forage on seeds post-bloom.

‘Bluebird’ is a mountain hydrangea with lovely lacecaps that cascade among big, glossy leaves. Depending on soil pH, light blue florets surround deeper blue flowers. Outer florets gently droop and bend to reveal pink backing and a multi-toned coloration. 

Blue hydrangea blooms need highly acidic soils with a pH of less than 6.0. Add aluminum sulfate to the surrounding soil to increase acidity. Pink blooms occur in more alkaline soils with pH levels above 6.0.

To achieve pinker tones, add lime to the soil. A neutral soil yields a purplish-mauve bloom. A soil test helps determine soil pH levels and how much you’ll need to adjust them. Fall or late winter is prime for soil amending for absorption in time for the warm growing season.

‘Twist-n-Shout™’

Blossoms dance from top to bottom in bright clusters.

‘Twist-n-Shout™’ is a bigleaf cultivar with lacecap blooms in rosy pinks or violet blues, depending on the soil pH. Blossoms dot the shrubs from top to bottom, emerging profusely and throughout the season. 

Sturdy red stems hold the blooms upright and add contrasting visual interest. Ample foliage in deep green is lush behind the blooms.

The cold-hardy, colorful hydrangeas are in the Endless Summer® series and rebloom reliably. Like other bigleafs, they prefer afternoon shade protection.

‘Ruby Slippers’

Upright stems carry clusters that shift through sunset shades.

Oakleaf hydrangeas have white pyramidal bloom clusters with color-changing capabilities. They emerge creamy white and age to dusky pink and green as summer progresses. By late fall, petals become light tan and papery, persisting on the stem into winter.

In addition to their floriferous clusters, the upright plants offer foliar texture and impressive hydrangea colors. Large, deeply lobed leaves round out the growing season in rich autumnal hues like fiery red and burgundy purple. Birds, bees, and other pollinators visit for seeds and nectar-rich fertile florets.

‘Ruby Slippers’ crosses two favorite oakleaf cultivars, ‘Snow Queen’ and ‘Pee Wee,’ for a colorful cultivar. Flowers emerge white and turn shades of rosy red and light pink. They age to ruby red.

Upright branches are compact and hold their nearly ten-inch flowers upright. Stems in all directions point outward for an all-over display. ‘Ruby Slippers’ has fall foliage with deep scarlet burnishes to match the blooms. The U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, DC, introduced the innovative selection in 2010.

‘Limelight Prime®’

Strong stems hold up the showy clusters without bending.

‘Limelight Prime®’ improves on the beloved original ‘Limelight.’ The award-winning original has massive pyramidal blooms in creamy white and chartreuse. They mature to pink and dusky rose in late summer. ‘Limelight,’ large in flower and stature, is useful in hedges, screens, and specimen plantings.

‘Limelight Prime®,’ a newer cultivar, improves on the classic with shorter, sturdier stems that hold the hefty blossoms upright. There’s less flopping with their weight. The flowers emerge earlier in the season, beginning greenish-white and transitioning to rich pinks and reds.

For a more compact variety with the same hydrangea colors, opt for ‘Little Lime’ with robust blooms and strong stems that resist drooping. ‘Little Lime®’ reaches three to five feet tall and bursts with chartreuse clusters.

‘Invincibelle® Spirit II’

Upright stems hold bold pink flowerheads through summer’s heat.

‘Invincibelle® Spirit II’ is an improved version of ‘Spirit.’ ‘Spirit’ is a pink, mophead twist on ‘Annabelle,’ the favorite white snowball smooth hydrangea. ‘Invinciblle® Spirit II’ has deep foliage that lends a handsome backdrop to large, rose-pink blooms that age to green. Stems are solid and strong and keep the giant flowerheads upright.

‘Invincibelle® Spirit II’ repeat flowers from early summer through fall. The blooms support pollinators with a combination of fertile florets and sterile flowers, another special feature not all mopheads offer. 

‘Blushing Bride®’

Elegant mopheads glow white before turning a romantic pink.

‘Blushing Bride®’ brings pure white double blooms to the Endless Summer® collection. As they age, the hydrangea colors transition to blush pink. The large mopheads are beautiful on the stem and in fresh floral arrangements. 

The white blooms of ‘Blushing Bride®’ aren’t affected by soil pH levels for their white to pink coloration. The vigorous performer sets buds both on old and new wood for nearly guaranteed blooms despite winter conditions.

‘Let’s Dance Sky View®’

Each cluster shifts from pale tones to vivid blue.

The Let’s DanceⓇ series crosses bigleaf and mountain hydrangea characteristics for consistent blooming across climate zones. The series brings hydrangeas in improved colors with attractive foliage.

In acidic soils, ‘Let’s Dance Sky View®’ emerges sky blue with a pale green eye, becoming fully blue as it matures. Densely packed petals overlap to form domed clusters. ‘Sky View®’ has a dwarf, rounded form. The compact habit makes it a fit for pots, small spaces, and front-of-the-border locations. Buds set on both old and new wood.

‘Tiny Tuff Stuff™’

Dwarf shrubs produce charming double-petaled flowers reliably.

‘Tiny Tuff Stuff™’ is a gem box of color with purple-toned lacecaps. The mountain hydrangea produces a profusion of bloom clusters in purple, and depending on soil pH, from blue to pink to white. The lacy blooms are double-petaled, aging to pink and arching downward as they mature.

‘Tiny Tuff Stuff™’ is reliably winter hardy to zone 5 with good bud set. Feature the dwarf cultivar where its purple tones can be admired, like a container or the front of the foundation planting.

‘Invincibelle® Ruby’

Ruby-red blooms brighten compact, sturdy summer shrubs beautifully.

‘Invincibelle® Ruby’ adds even more hydrangea colors to the smooth hydrangeas group with its ruby red, rose, and silvery pink hues. The compact shrubs have stout branching and dark leaves, and flower repeatedly for color across seasons.

‘Ruby’ bears rounded flower clusters on full, mounded forms. For a punch of soft, rich hydrangea colors, use it in mixed borders, perennial beds, and pots.

‘Candy Apple™’

Panicles bloom on new wood all season.

‘Candy Apple™’ rounds out our dynamic hydrangea colors as a panicle with fall interest. Rounded bloom clusters in creamy lime take on a pink blush for a delicious candy apple appeal. Burnished foliage in red, purple, and orange tones creates standout autumnal interest.