Join us for a study day exploring the history, diversity, and future horticultural potential of WHF’s collections of the asperae subsection of Hydrangea (H. aspera and H. involucrata).

The asperae are a woefully undervalued group of late summer flowering shrubs, perhaps because of an undeserved reputation for being difficult and unreliably hardy. But at WHF H. aspera has been dominating the late summer months with colour and character for 30 years: our breeding of more vividly coloured forms both in flower and foliage has yielded plants of outstanding character and reliability, such as H. aspera ‘Hot Chocolate’ and H. aspera ‘Rosemary Foster'.

And in recent years there have been many new forms of H. involucrata introduced from Japan which have also turned out to be excellent garden plants. Certainly our representative collection at WHF are indispensable contributors to late summer colour and variety, as well as being perhaps some of the most effective shade bearers of any genus.

My recent book, The Hydrangea: a Reappraisal (2023) illustrates both our breeding developments of H. aspera and offers assessments of the latest cultivars in this group.

Bonus Plant sale of WHF seedlings and cuttings, to raise funds for the White House Farm Arboretum Foundation.

PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME

10.30 am: registration, tea and coffee

Examination of samples of both named and unnamed selections in vases.

11.00am: Jack Aldridge on Hydrangea aspera and its challenges in cultivation.

11.30am: Maurice Foster on Hydrangea involucrata and some of the more recent cultivars.

12.00- 1pm: Brief tour of various asperae forms in the Garden and Aspera Dell.

1-2pm: Lunch (local caterer: soup, sandwiches, cake and fruit)

2pm: Tour of species and WHF sdlg hydrangeas in the Wood, including the Aspera Walk.