Proven Winners is introducing their new
Invincibelle Spirit II Smooth Hydrangea arborescens and I would love to have that hedge in the photo, wouldn't you?
PW calls this one an overachiever because it blooms and re-blooms - just what we need our Hydrangeas to do!
I confess to a deep love affair with Annabelle the original Hydrangea discovered in 1910 in Anna Illinois. Her huge white snowball blossom clusters are durable for drying and the plant itself is trouble tree.
Invincibelle Spirit is a hybrid of native Annabelle, durable and reliable but with pink flowers. It's cold hardy to zone 3 and happy up to zone 9. It is said to enjoy full sun but I think in our zone 7 heat, a bit of afternoon shade would no doubt work well, too.
The pink flowers start out dark buds that open to hot pink clusters, fading to soft pink as the flowers age. Then, wonder of beauties, they become green.
No deadheading, heat tolerant, care-free, Invincible Spirit matures between 3 and 4 feet tall and wide. If you decide to go with a hedge of them, plant the centers 4 to 6 feet apart, leaving plenty of room for expansion and air circulation.
As for pruning, the flowers bloom on new wood, so prune after bloom applies to this Hydrangea, like most others. This is a deciduous shrub that you would prune in late-winter. Invincible is easy for most gardeners since it adapts to a wide range of soil types, though it prefers moist and well-draining spots.
This is a pink hybrid and the pH of your soil will not influence the color of the flowers.
On another note -
Since its introduction in 2010, $1 from each plant sold is donated to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation®(BCRF). Sales of the plant and corresponding Pink Day fundraises hosted at garden centers across North America have raised over $730,000 – 73% of the way to our million dollar goal! Based on BCRF’s system of quantifying dollars in action, this represents approximately 14,600 hours of research. That’s one powerful hydrangea!
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