Saugus Gardens in the Summer

Here’s what’s blooming in town this week to make your walks more enjoyable

By Laura Eisener

While I had plenty to say about hydrangeas earlier in the summer, we are by no means finished with them! Panicle hydrangeas, at their peak of bloom now, are among the most adaptable of the hydrangeas. They are able to tolerate quite a bit of hot and dry weather without drooping. They are also the most likely to bloom reliably every year, since unlike some other hydrangea species their flowers are produced in the spring of the same year they bloom. This means that a cold or stressful winter is less likely to have any effect on their flowers than on the bigleaf hydrangeas. They can also be expected to thrive in sunny locations, while the bigleaf hydrangeas need afternoon shade.

The colors are usually white, with some varieties producing pink tones, but they will not have blue or purple flowers. The large shrub on the Taylor Street side of Town Hall is covered with snowy white flower panicles, with all flowers in the sterile large petaled form. This is probably the variety sometimes called pee gee hydrangea; the first two words standing for the letters of its scientific species and variety name (Hydrangea paniculata grandiflora).

There are some newer varieties that have similar flower forms. The lack of fertile flowers makes the clusters especially large and showy, but it means that new plants cannot grow from seed. They need to be propagated from cuttings in order to make new plants.

Panicle hydrangeas are native to China, Japan and Korea. They are among the most cold hardy of the hydrangeas, and able to thrive even in the colder parts of New England (not Mt. Washington, but almost everywhere else). They are known for blooming for several months: from July until September or even October.

There are quite a few popular varieties. ‘Limelight’ is a tall variety with flowers that start out pale green and turn white at peak bloom. ‘Little Lime’ have similarly shaped flower clusters, but the plant is shorter, usually around 4′-5′ tall. Another white variety for a location that needs a shorter shrub is ‘Bobo.’ Some varieties are inclined to have some pink shades in the blossoms and may become brighter pink as the flowers fade and dry. ‘Quickfire’ and ‘Pinky Winky’ are two varieties that can be expected to do this. A shorter hydrangea variety with pink tones is ‘Strawberry Sundae,’ which stays in the 4′-5′ range. If they need to be pruned, the best time for this species is November through March, while they are dormant.

When people speak of tree hydrangeas, they mean panicle hydrangea shrubs, which have been trained when young to have a single straight trunk rather than multiple stems emerging from the ground. It is not a different species of plant – all of the taller varieties of panicle hydrangeas can be trained into a tree form. They are usually more expensive than the shrub version, since quite a bit of time and effort has gone into the reshaping of the young shrubs so that by the time they are available in a nursery they do in fact have a tree shape. Tree hydrangeas make good focal points in a garden, so the extra time and expense is justified if you want the plant to stand out from other landscape features.

While the hydrangeas gave their name to the hydrangea family (Hydrangeaceae), it is not the only genus in the family. Deutzias (Deutzia spp.) and mock oranges (Syringa spp.) are a few other commonly available garden shrubs that belong to this family.

Generally, when we think of corn we think of delicious kernels eaten in late summer and fall. Corn on the cob is a well-known seasonal delight, and popcorn a popular snack. Corn mazes have become a staple of fall entertainment, and corn stalks decorate many a farm stand and home for the harvest/Halloween season. However, people don’t often think of corn as an ornamental plant for seasonal containers. One of the most colorful and decorative fall plants is the pink zebra corn (Zea mays ‘Pink Zebra’), which boasts startling striped foliage. It can grow quite large, up to 4′-6′ tall, and if it develops ears, they will contain dark purple, almost black popcorn kernels. A single plant in a pot is not too likely to get fertilized, however, so I am not holding out much hope of growing my own popcorn this year. Like other corn, this is an annual regardless of weather, so it is not going to last through the winter even if it is kept away from frost.

Annuals are still thriving and blooming in many parts of Saugus. A beautiful display of petunias and petunia/million bells hybrids can be found at the base of the Roller World Plaza sign on Route 1, which sits between several popular businesses in the parking lot. The flowers include solid pink, pink and white striped, and yellow flowering varieties, and completely cover the raised bed.

  Editor’s Note: Laura Eisener is a landscape design consultant who helps homeowners with landscape design, plant selection and placement of trees and shrubs, as well as perennials. She is a member of the Saugus Garden Club and offered to write a series of articles about “what’s blooming in town” shortly after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. She was inspired after seeing so many people taking up walking.