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Hydrangea Polar Bear is highly regarded among gardeners, the reasons for this are not only the attractiveness of the plant from a decorative point of view. The species is very easy to care for, so it is ideal for breeding in the garden.
Description of hydrangea paniculata Polar Beer
Polar Bear is a cross between Limelight and Grandiflora panicled hydrangeas. From its ancestors, the Polar Bear took the best properties – large flowers and high frost resistance, strong branches and unpretentiousness in cultivation.
Variety Polar Bear combines endurance and high decorative effect.
Panicled hydrangea is a fairly large plant. The height of the hydrangea Polar Beer is an average of 1,8 m in height. The plant blooms in early June and until late autumn with very large pyramidal or paniculate inflorescences, up to 40 cm each. During the flowering period, the hydrangea gradually changes its color – at first its inflorescences are pale pistachio, then they become white, pinkish or cream.
Hydrangea Polar Beer in landscape design
A beautiful and undemanding hydrangea is very often used to decorate summer cottages. It is used in mixborders and hedges, planted on lawns singly or as part of a group – along with herbaceous perennials and shrubs.
The Polar Bear shrub looks very impressive in almost any composition. Its huge bright inflorescences set off dense greens or variegated flowers of other plants. An important advantage of the Polar Bear variety is that flowering continues almost until frost. Even after leaf fall, spreading flowering bushes still continue to decorate the garden plot.
In the garden landscape, the variety is used everywhere
Winter hardiness of hydrangea Polar Bear
Polar Bear is a very cold-resistant variety of decorative hydrangea. This is reflected even in the name of the plant. An ornamental shrub calmly tolerates colds down to -40 ° C, and it is not even necessary to carefully cover it for the winter.
Planting and caring for hydrangea Polar Bear
Growing a healthy and sprawling hydrangea in your country house is quite easy. But for this, the plant needs to provide the right conditions and basic care.
How the hydrangea Polar Beer grows
As the Polar Bear grows, it stretches not only in height. The size of the Polar Bear hydrangea bush can reach 1,5 m. In addition, the hydrangea has a branched superficial root system, its roots go not so much deep into the soil as to the sides.
Over time, the bushes grow quite widely, so you need to leave a gap when planting
If the hydrangea needs to be planted close to other plants, or it is planned to plant several bushes at once, then it is necessary to leave a free distance between plantings. Intervals of about 1-1,5 m allow the shrub to develop freely and not fight for moisture and nutrients with other plants.
Selection and preparation of the landing site
In order for the panicled hydrangea Polar Bear to grow well, you must initially plant it in the optimal place:
- It is best to plant the plant on the south side of the site, as the hydrangea loves sunlight. However, at the same time, other trees or buildings should be located nearby, they can create light shading, which is also very important for hydrangeas. In the sun, the shrub blooms less abundantly. In addition, strong winds can damage it in an open place, and buildings and trees can protect the hydrangea.
- The Polar Bear prefers abundant moisture. But waterlogged soil for hydrangeas is dangerous and can lead to root rot. Therefore, the plant cannot be planted in a lowland or in close proximity to groundwater. If soil moisture is high, high-quality drainage should be organized.
- The soil for the Polar Bear variety needs fertile – in conditions of a lack of nutrients, the hydrangea will bloom worse. The soil should be neutral or slightly acidic, but not acidic.
The variety is usually planted in the spring, but in the southern regions this can be done in the fall.
The optimal time for planting a plant is determined by the growing region. Since the Polar Bear has a high frost resistance, in the southern regions it is possible to plant shrubs in the ground in autumn, until mid-October. But in the middle lane and the northern regions, it is better to plant in the spring in April, so that the plant has time to take root.
A landing pit for hydrangeas is prepared in advance. The soil in the selected area of uXNUMXbuXNUMXbthe garden is dug up and enriched with additional components, namely:
- peat and sand are mixed in equal proportions;
- add humus and leafy soil, also in equal quantities, but 2 times more.
When preparing the soil, it is recommended to immediately lay complex mineral fertilizers in the pit, they will help the hydrangeas take root faster.
Rules of landing
Since the roots of the hydrangea are of a superficial type, they dig a shallow landing hole for it – about 30 cm deep and the same in diameter. The pit is half filled with the prepared nutrient mixture.
After that, the shrub seedling, previously soaked in water, is lowered into the hole and its roots are carefully spread on the sides. The pit is covered with the remnants of the soil mixture to the surface of the earth, leaving the root neck above the soil level, and the seedling is watered abundantly.
The earth under the stem of the seedling is not tamped, but loosened
Watering and top dressing
Hydrangea Northern Bear loves moisture and blooms more abundantly and brighter with regular moisture. It is recommended to water the hydrangea weekly – a couple of buckets under the trunk, and if the weather is rainy, then once a month.
In order for the moisture from the near-stem circle to evaporate more slowly, the plant can be mulched with peat, sawdust or humus. It is also useful from time to time to loosen the soil in the near-trunk circle and carry out hilling – in this case, the roots of the shrub will receive more oxygen.
For abundant flowering, the plant needs regular top dressing. They are usually applied to the soil several times a year:
- in early spring to build a green crown;
- at the end of spring during the budding period for better flowering;
- in July to strengthen the roots and protect the plant from pests and diseases;
- in autumn before the onset of winter to increase the endurance of the bush before the cold.
In the spring, the Polar Bear especially needs top dressings with a high nitrogen content – ammonium nitrate or urea will be a good choice. In summer and autumn, hydrangeas are fed with superphosphate and potassium, and organics – manure and humus – also benefit.
For beautiful flowering, the shrub needs top dressing.
How to prune hydrangea Polar Bear
Panicled hydrangea is prone to rapid growth, therefore, after the fourth year of life, it is recommended to cut it twice a season:
- For the first time, a haircut is carried out in the spring in March, before the start of sap flow. At the Polar Bear, all dry and broken branches are cut off, which are especially easy to see while the bush is not yet covered with leaves. Also, healthy shoots are cut by 2/3, giving the plant the desired shape.
- The second time the hydrangea is cut in the fall. During the autumn haircut, it is also necessary to remove all broken and dried shoots, browned inflorescences and branches that violate the proportions of the bush. Autumn pruning not only heals the plant, but also protects the hydrangea from breaking branches under the weight of snow.
For old Polar Bear hydrangeas, anti-aging pruning can be carried out. A mature bush is simply cut to the very stump, the next year the plant will give new strong shoots. But it is recommended to resort to a radical procedure only if the old bush began to bloom noticeably weaker.
Regular haircuts keep the hydrangea bush beautiful and neat.
Preparation for winter
The Polar Bear is distinguished by its amazing frost resistance, down to -40 ° C. And, nevertheless, it is highly recommended to cover the shrub for the winter, especially when it comes to young plants with increased sensitivity.
Shortly before the onset of cold weather, you need to mulch the near-trunk circle of the Polar Bear with sawdust, peat or needles – the layer should be at least 20 cm. Also, young plants are often covered with burlap and covered with spruce branches. Winter shelter protects the shrub not only from frost, but also from the wind, and also does not allow the shoots to break under the weight of the fallen snow.
Reproduction
Hydrangea Polar Bear lends itself perfectly to vegetative propagation. If you want to plant more hydrangeas on the site, it is not necessary to buy new seedlings.
Methods:
- Propagation by cuttings. This method is the easiest and most popular among gardeners. In the spring, several young annual shoots should be cut from an adult hydrangea bush. For 3 days, the cuttings are placed in water, and after that they are planted in soil from peat and sand, deepening by 2/3. From above, the cutting can be covered with a glass jar or a plastic bag. Until the appearance of green shoots, the plant must be kept in moist and cool conditions, and then planted in open ground.
- Reproduction by layering. Another vegetative method suggests bending one of the lower healthy shoots to the ground in spring and fixing the branch in the middle part in a small groove in the ground. During the summer, the cuttings will only need to be watered at the same time as the adult plant, it will quickly give roots, and the next year it can be separated from the mother bush.
- Reproduction by division of the rhizome. Old hydrangeas are propagated by division – first, the bush is completely dug out of the ground, and then the rhizome is divided into several parts with a sharpened shovel, each should have a pair of growth buds. Delenki are treated with a solution of potassium permanganate and planted in the ground for rooting.
The variety is propagated vegetatively on the plot – it is unprofitable to try to grow a shrub from seeds
Seed propagation for the Polar Bear is not practiced. It is too difficult to grow a strong and healthy shrub from seed, long efforts may not be successful. In addition, seedlings usually do not retain varietal characteristics, and in terms of their characteristics and beauty, the plant is significantly inferior to the mother bush.
Diseases and pests
Polar Bear is considered a disease-resistant variety. Of the fungal diseases, chlorosis is the most dangerous for the variety; it develops mainly on poor soils or with excessive watering. The main symptom of the disease is premature yellowing of the foliage of the shrub. Treatment of hydrangeas is carried out with special preparations, for example, Chelate or Antichlorosis.
Of the pests for shrubs, leaf aphids, spider mites, as well as slugs and snails are dangerous. To prevent infection, you need to carefully examine the leaves and shoots of a garden plant. When insects appear, the shrub can be treated with soapy water, Bordeaux liquid or garden insecticides.
The variety is resistant to diseases, but preventive treatment will not harm it.
Conclusion
Hydrangea Polar Bear is a hardy and cold-resistant ornamental plant with very large flowers. With minimal care, the Polar Bear will be able to decorate the garden until late autumn.
Hydrangea paniculata reviews Polar Beer
