Hydrangea macrophylla Eclipse®

Hydrangea macrophylla Eclipse® is a shrub sensation that will stop you in your tracks. The first truly dark-leaved Bigleaf Hydrangea, Eclipse® has foliage as black as night, which holds its coloration well throughout the growing season and nearly upstages the shrub’s blooms. Yet the latter are stunning in their own right, having unusually bright red-and-pink florets with creamy white centers. (The blossoms may be more purplish depending on soil conditions.) This heavy bloomer sets abundant flower buds in fall, so we discourage cutting it back anytime after mid-June or pruning later in the season. This showstopping shrub maintains its good looks thanks to resistance to common Hydrangea diseases, including powdery mildew and Cercospora leaf spot. A First Editions® variety. 'Bailmacseven' PP 34,544

For gardeners in Zone 5, we advise planting H. macrophyllas in a sheltered location and giving them a winter mulch. This will provide protection from winds and cold temperatures that can damage flower buds.

For this Hydrangea, you can change the color of your blooms by using one of our soil additives, flowers will generally be more blue when grown in acid soils, and pink when grown in alkaline soils.

Hydrangea is a valuable genus of some 100 species of shrubs and vines grown for their large and very showy flower heads. Hydrangeas are at their best in summer and fall—a quiet time for most woody plants—and are worth having for that reason alone.

For more information on growing and care, click Growing Guide.