Hydrangea Gardens
Hydrangeas are one of the main planting themes that give structure and continuity to the Reverie. Alongside structural hedges, rhododendrons, butterfly bushes, roses and the Herb Garden, they were chosen early in the development of the garden to help shape the main structure of the different garden rooms.
Several types of hydrangeas now grow throughout the garden: bigleaf hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla) in shades of blue, pink and red, white Annabelles (Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’) and several varieties of panicle hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata). Each has gradually found its own place and growing conditions.
The oldest and most established planting is the Blue Hydrangea Garden. Blue hydrangeas were among the first plants chosen when the Reverie began to take shape. Today, 65 mature plants grow in two large sweeps along both sides of a woodland path. In midsummer they create a sea of blue beneath the trees. The deep shade protects the flowers from the summer sun and allows them to age slowly from blue into soft green, often remaining beautiful well into autumn.
The Blue Hydrangea Garden
The Annabelle Garden
Annabelles were first planted on a much smaller scale, in a spot with morning and evening sun and filtered light during the afternoon. They performed so well that we decided to give them a much larger role. In September 2026, sixty young Annabelles were planted in a formal arrangement in the Conservatory Garden, creating what we now call the Annabelle Garden. For now, the plants are small; over the coming years they should grow together into broad clouds of white.
The panicle hydrangeas have proved more challenging. Although originally planted in light shade with several hours of full afternoon sun, the exceptionally hot summer of 2026 meant they regularly needed protection from scorching. With parasols providing shade during the hottest hours, their flowering never really got going. They have now been moved to a position with more morning light and a few hours of early-afternoon sun, but protection from the strongest late-afternoon heat. Whether we have finally found their place remains to be seen.
Together, the Hydrangea Gardens weave summer colour through the Reverie — from the deep blue of the established woodland plantings to the young Annabelles only just beginning to fill their space. Every year they settle a little further into the garden, and every summer they give us something new to look forward to.
A group of 30 pink and red bigleaf hydrangeas grows elsewhere in the garden, as background planting along our Azalea Lane, where their summer flowers follow the pink and red azaleas of spring.
Smaller hydrangea plantings
