Bigleaf hydrangea
ஹைட்ராஞ்ஜியா மேக்ரோபைலாഹൈഡ്രാഞ്ചിയহাইড্রাঞ্জিয়া
Hydrangea macrophylla (Thunb.) Ser.
- light
- Part sun
- water
- Medium
- tall
- 1.7 m
- wide
- 1.7 m
Hydrangeaceae
Also called Mophead hydrangea, French hydrangea, Common hydrangea, Bigleaf Hydrangea, Hydrangea
Formerly Hortensia japonica, Hortensia macrophylla, Hortensia mutabilis, Hortensia nigra, and 18 more
When it flowers
Flowers October to January in the tropics.
Read from iNaturalist photographs of it in flower. A month counts at 50% of the best month's flowering share (smoothed over three months) and 10% of its flowering count, from at least 100 flowering observations in the band.
If a child, a pet or anyone may have eaten a plant, contact a doctor or vet straight away, or call the National Poisons Information Centre (AIIMS, New Delhi) on 1800 116 117, free and open 24 hours.
Something wrong with it?About it
- Grows as
- ShrubKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Climate
- TemperateKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Wild in
- SC. Japan (to Izu Ōshima), Kazan RettōKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Light
- Part shade (3 to 6 h)Read from NC State Extension and RHS, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: NC State Extension part, shade; RHS full, part
- Height
- 1.5 m to 1.8 mRead from NC State Extension and RHS, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: NC State Extension 3–6 ft; RHS 1.5–2.5 m
- Spread
- 1.5 m to 1.8 mRead from NC State Extension and RHS, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: NC State Extension 3–6 ft; RHS 1.5–2.5 m
- Water
- Average: moist, well drainedRead from NC State Extension and RHS, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources
- Flowers
- Pink, blueRead from NC State Extension and RHS, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: NC State Extension blue, pink, purple, white; RHS blue, pink
- Coldest it survives
- -19.1 °C (USDA zone 6b)Read from NC State Extension and RHS, checked: the middle of what its sources sayHalfway between its 2 sources, which differ. Sources differ: NC State Extension -23.3 °C; RHS -15 °C
Not known yet: heat, hottest it survives.
Grow it with
Suggested by a rule, not by a gardener: same climate (kew), flowering when this plant does not (inaturalist), and a different shape.
American black nightshadeFlowers February to September, when this does not
Bull ThistleFlowers February to September, when this does not
Common Cat's-earFlowers February to September, when this does not
Common Sow-thistleFlowers February to September, when this does not
ElderFlowers February to September, when this does not
FeverfewFlowers February to September, when this does not
In other languages (12)
- Hawaiian
- pōpōhau
- Spanish
- Hortensia japonesa
- Portuguese
- Hidrângea, Hortênsia, Hortense
- French
- Hortensia
- Chinese
- 繡球花
- Czech
- hortenzie velkolistá
- Dutch
- hortensia, Boerenhortensia, Grote hortensia
- Estonian
- suurelehine hortensia
- Norwegian Bokmål
- hortensia
- German
- Gartenhortensie
- Japanese
- アジサイ, 紫陽花
- Finnish
- jalohortensia
Where this comes from
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-24, CC0-1.0 (observation counts)
- Wikidata, read 2026-10-26, CC0-1.0
- Kew's checklist, read 2026-10-24, CC-BY-4.0
- NC State Extension, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- RHS, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- Wikimedia Commons, read 2026-10-24, CC BY 4.0
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY-SA
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- 3D model: Hydrangea macrophylla (built for Vanagrha) by Vanagrha, own
A fact “checked by a majority of its sources” was settled by a vote of the pages it was read from, not by a person reading it; one marked “one source” rests on that page alone. Anything else not marked checked has not been checked yet. Where nothing is known, the page says so rather than guess.