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Hydrangea Hayes Starburst is an artificially bred tree-like terry variety, whose homeland is considered to be the southern United States. Spreading bushes with large dark green leaves from June to autumn frosts adorn lush umbrellas of small milky white flowers, shaped like stars. The frost resistance and unpretentiousness of Hayes Starburst hydrangea allows it to be grown both in conditions with a mild warm climate and in northern cold regions. This beauty will become a wonderful decoration for any garden, provided that they choose a suitable place for her on the site and provide simple but proper care.
Description of hydrangea tree Hayes Starburst
Hydrangea treelike Hayes Starburst (Hayes Starburst) bears its name in honor of Hayes Jackson, a gardener from Anniston (Alabama, USA). This is the world’s first variety of tree-like hydrangea with double flowers. Its occurrence was the result of a “happy accident” – a natural mutation of the popular Annabelle variety of the Khovaria series. The plant was named “Flash of the Star” due to the white flowers with sharp petals, which, when fully opened, resemble rays that scatter in three-dimensional space.
Hayes Starburst – the world’s only variety of double tree hydrangea
The bush of the plant usually reaches 0,9-1,2 m in height, has a rounded spreading crown with a diameter of about 1,5 m. The shoots are long, thin, graceful, slightly pubescent. They grow rapidly (up to 0,5 m during the season). The stems are straight, but not very strong.
Hydrangea flowers Hayes Starburst are numerous, small (no more than 3 cm). Most of them are sterile. The petals of the plant are terry with pointed tips. At the beginning of flowering, their color is slightly greenish, then it becomes milky white, retaining a faint shade of green, and by the end of the season it acquires a light pinkish tone.
The flowers are collected in large, asymmetrical umbrellas about 15-25 cm in diameter, located at the ends of the shoots of the current year. Inflorescences in shape may resemble a sphere, a hemisphere or a truncated pyramid. The flowering of the plant lasts from late June to October.
The leaves are large (from 6 to 20 cm), oblong, serrated along the edges. There is a heart-shaped notch at the base of the leaf plate. From above, the leaves of the plant are dark green, slightly velvety, from the wrong side – bare, bluish in color.
Hydrangea Hayes Starburst fruits are formed in September. These are a few small (about 3 mm), ribbed brown boxes. Inside are small seeds.
Hydrangea Hayes Starburst in landscape design
Luxurious beauty Hayes Starburst is characterized by unpretentious care, long flowering time and high decorative qualities. It looks great both in single plantings on grassy lawns, and in group compositions, where it certainly attracts attention, becoming an exquisite decoration of the territory.
Hayes Starburst hydrangea destination options on the site:
- unshaped hedge;
- placement along structures or fences;
- division of zones in the garden;
- background plant in a mixborder or discount;
- “disguise” for a non-picturesque corner of the garden;
- combination with coniferous shrubs and trees;
- design of front gardens, recreation areas;
- landscape compositions with perennial flowers, plants of the lily family, as well as phlox, geranium, astilba, barberry.
Hydrangea Hayes Starburst looks great both in compositions with other plants, and in a single planting
Winter hardiness of terry hydrangea Hayes Starburst
Hydrangea Hayes Starburst is characterized by high winter hardiness. In the presence of a dry shelter, this variety is able to withstand frosts of the middle climatic zone and a decrease in temperature down to -35 ° C.
Planting and caring for hydrangea Hayes Starburst
Hydrangea variety Hayes Starburst is considered unpretentious. However, the health of the plant, and, therefore, the duration and abundance of its flowering, depends on how correctly the place for planting the bush is determined and what measures are taken to care for it.
A brief overview of the characteristics of the hydrangea variety Hayes Staberst and the preferred conditions in the garden plot for this plant in the video https://youtu.be/6APljaXz4uc
Selection and preparation of the landing site
The site where Hayes Starburst hydrangea is supposed to be planted should have the following characteristics:
- semi-shaded throughout the day, but at the same time in the morning and evening it is well lit by the sun;
- protected from gusts of wind and drafts;
- the soil is light, fertile, humus, slightly acidic, well-drained.
Hydrangea Hayes Starburst is photophilous, but it can also grow in shady places. However, in case of excess bright sunlight, the flowering period of this plant will be reduced by about 3-5 weeks. If the bush is constantly in the shade, then the number and size of its flowers will be less than under optimal conditions.
An ideal option for Hayes Starburst hydrangea is planting in the northern, northeastern or eastern part of the garden. It is desirable that there is a fence, a building wall or trees nearby.
The right site for planting is the key to lush and long-term flowering of hydrangeas.
Rules of landing
The landing time of Hayes Starburst hydrangea in an open area depends on the climatic region:
- in the north it is done in early spring, as soon as the ground has thawed sufficiently;
- in southern, warmer conditions, seedlings can be rooted in the ground either in spring, before the buds swell, or in autumn, immediately after the leaves fall.
It is optimal to choose young 3-4-year-old plants with a closed root system for planting.
Immediately before planting, Hayes Starburst seedlings should be removed from the containers, cut the roots by 20-25 cm, remove damaged and dry shoots.
The technology for planting tree hydrangeas in the ground is as follows:
- it is necessary to prepare a landing pit approximately 30 * 30 * 30 cm in size;
- pour into it a nutrient mixture of 2 parts of black soil, 2 parts of humus, 1 part of sand and 1 part of peat, as well as mineral fertilizer (50 g of superphosphate, 30 g of potassium sulfate);
- install a seedling of a plant in a pit, straighten its roots, making sure that the root neck remains at the level of the soil;
- cover with earth and gently tamp it down;
- water the plant abundantly under the root;
- mulch the trunk circle with sawdust, peat, needles.
Watering and top dressing
The root system of hydrangea Hayes Starburst is superficial and branched. This plant is very moisture-loving and needs regular watering. Drying of the soil under it should not be allowed.
The frequency of watering is approximately as follows:
- in a dry, hot summer period – 1-2 times a week;
- If it rains, then once a month will be enough.
A single water rate for one bush of Hayes Starburst hydrangea is 15-20 liters.
Simultaneously with watering, loosening of the soil in the near-stem circles of the plant should be carried out to a depth of 5-6 cm (2-3 times during the season), as well as weeding.
Small terry hydrangea flowers Hayes Starburst are shaped like stars
Hydrangeas Hayes Starburst are good for almost any top dressing, but in moderation. Fertilize it according to this principle:
- the first 2 years after planting in the ground, it is not necessary to feed a young plant;
- starting from the third year, in early spring, urea or superphosphate, nitrogen, potassium sulfate should be added under the bushes (you can use a ready-made mixture of fertilizers enriched with trace elements);
- at the stage of bud formation, nitroammophoska is added;
- during the summer, every month you can enrich the soil under the plants with organic matter (infusion of chicken manure, rotted manure, grass);
- in August, fertilizer with nitrogen substances should be stopped, limited to compositions based on phosphorus and potassium;
- to strengthen the shoots during this period, it is necessary to spray the leaves of the plant with a weak solution of potassium permanganate.
It is also important to know that you can not feed this plant with lime, chalk, fresh manure, ash. These fertilizers greatly reduce the acidity of the soil, which is unacceptable for hydrangeas.
Pruning hydrangea tree terry Hayes Starburst
For the first 4 years, cutting the Hayes Starburst hydrangea bush is not required.
Further, regular pruning of the plant is performed 2 times a year:
- In the spring, before sap flow begins, diseased, broken, weak branches, shoots frozen in winter, are removed. At the stage of budding, the weakest branches with inflorescences are cut off so that the remaining inflorescences are larger.
- In the autumn, before the onset of winter, thick growth is thinned out, umbrellas that have faded are removed. Also during this period, shoots that have grown in a year are reduced by 3-5 buds.
In addition, every 5-7 years it is advised to carry out sanitary pruning of the plant, cutting off the shoots by about 10 cm.
Preparation for winter
In the northern regions, before the onset of winter, Hayes Starburst hydrangea bushes are mulched with dry foliage and covered with earth. In a southern climate, this procedure is carried out during the first 2 years after landing in open ground. It is also allowed to cover the plants for the winter with coniferous spruce branches or insulate them with covering material.
In order for the branches of the Hayes Starburst hydrangea not to break under the weight of adhering snow, they are tied together, after carefully bending them to the ground.
Reproduction
Most often, the Hayes Starburst tree hydrangea is propagated using green cuttings, which are cut from the young side shoots of the plant of the current year. They are harvested in the summer, after the appearance of buds on the bush, in this way:
- Cut shoots are immediately placed in water and placed in a dark place.
- Then the upper part with the bud, the lower leaves are removed from the branch. The rest of the shoot is divided into several parts of 10-15 cm, each of which should have 2-3 knots with buds.
- The lower part of the handle is cut under the first node, maintaining an angle of 45 °.
- The leaves also need to be cut in half using scissors.
- Next, the cuttings are placed for 2-3 hours in a special solution (“Kornevin”, “Epin”), which stimulates the growth of the plant and the formation of roots.
- After that, they are placed in containers filled with water mixed with cinnamon powder (1 tsp per 200 ml) and wait until the roots appear.
- When the roots reach a length of 2-5 cm, the plants are planted in pots with moist soil from a mixture of garden soil, peat and sand. You can cover the cuttings with glass jars or cut plastic bottles for quick rooting (from time to time such a shelter should be slightly opened for ventilation).
- Pots with cuttings are kept in a shaded place. Water seedlings 2-3 times a week.
- With the advent of next spring, the hydrangea is planted in the open air, after hardening the plants on the loggia or veranda.
Briefly and clearly, the process of propagation of hydrangea Hayes Starburst by cuttings is shown in the photo:
The most popular way to propagate tree hydrangea is from green cuttings.
Other methods of hydrangea propagation are also practiced:
- winter cuttings;
- dividing the bush;
- rooting layering;
- separation of shoots (offspring);
- seed germination;
- graft.
Diseases and pests
The main diseases and pests that can harm Hayes Starburst hydrangeas are as follows:
Name of the disease/pest | Signs of defeat | Prevention and control measures |
Mučnistaâ rosa | Yellow-green pale spots on the leaves of the plant. On the reverse side of them – a gray powdery coating. Rapid fall of green mass | Removal and destruction of affected parts. Fitosporin-B, Topaz. |
Downy mildew (perinospora) | Oily spots on foliage and stems that darken over time | Removal of affected areas. Bordeaux mixture, Optimo, Kuproksat |
Chlorosis | Large yellow spots on the leaves, while the veins remain green. Fast drying foliage | Mitigation of soil acidity. Feeding hydrangeas with iron |
leaf aphid | Colonies of small black insects visible on the underside of the leaves. The green mass of the bush dries up, turns yellow | Soap solution, decoction of tobacco dust. Iskra, Akarin, Zubr |
spider mite | The leaves are twisted, covered with small reddish spots. Thin cobwebs are noticeable on their wrong side. | Soap solution, mineral oil. Akarin, Lightning |
Healthy hydrangea Hayes Starburst pleases with flowers all summer until autumn frosts
Conclusion
Terry tree hydrangea Hayes Starburst, blooming luxuriantly all summer and part of autumn, will perfectly decorate a flower bed, backyard or recreation area in the park. To make a choice in favor of this variety will be prompted by a long and very beautiful flowering, undemanding care and excellent winter hardiness of the plant. However, when planting a Hayes Starburst bush in your garden, you need to correctly determine the place where hydrangeas are to grow, tie up flowering shoots if necessary, and also ensure regular abundant watering, proper pruning and top dressing. In this case, the plant will show the strongest qualities inherent in the variety, and will allow for a long time to admire the abundance of beautiful white flowers against the backdrop of bright green foliage.