2014 Theodore Klein Plant Award Winners

Hydrangea quercifolia - smaller selections: ‘Pee Wee’, ‘Ruby Slippers’, ‘Munchkin’, ‘Sike’s Dwarf’ - Oakleaf Hydrangea.  Hydrangea quercifolia species and cultivars were selected as one of Kentucky’s Theodore Klein Plant Award winners in 1999.   H. q. is a native of southeastern United States.  While not on the NRCS Plants Database map for Kentucky Ronald L. Jones includes it in his book Plant Life of Kentucky as a ”to be expected” plant but an observation in the wild has not been published.  Hydrangea quercifolia can be a large and sometimes rangy plant leading to a desire for smaller selections.  Smaller selections have been made; most notably H. q. 'Ruby Slippers" and H. q. 'Munchkin' by Sandy Reed, retired breeder USDA - McMinnville, TN. In addition, H. q. 'Pee Wee' an earlier blooming variety has done well in Kentucky landscapes, as has a yellow foliage variant of it, Little Honey™ (‘Brihon’, PP15,477) . These smaller cultivars are frequently advertised as 3' by 3' in size but most of the cultivars mentioned in this article have been known to continue to grow and get larger than stated but still smaller than the species.  The bloom is smaller in size of than standard Hydrangea quercifolia but showy all the same. 'Munchkin' a seedling from open-pollinated H. q.'Sikes Dwarf' is 3 ft. tall by 4.5 feet wide at 9 years. It blooms early in the season for the species and has white flowers at opening that turn pink with age. 'Ruby Slippers' the result of hybridization of oakleaf hydrangea cultivars Snow Queen® and ‘Pee Wee’ is 3.5 tall by 5 feet wide at 7 years; 4-5 tall x 6 wide at 12 years and like the others opens white but quickly turns pink and darkens to rose.  ‘Sike’s Dwarf’ Hydrangea was introduced by Louisiana Nursery and has been grown in Kentucky landscapes and has had open-pollinated seedling selections made and been crossed with other oakleaf hydrangeas to get small stature and good foliage into newer cultivars.  Oakleaf hydrangeas flower well in shade.

Oakleaf hydrangeas are propagated by seed, cuttings, tissue culture and division. “---we usually take softwood cuttings in June.  While preparing the cuttings we use scissors (not clippers) and cut half or more of the foliage off – 1) to reduce top weight and 2) to allow better mist circulation around the entire cutting. We found that scissors made a good clean cut and was less tiring on the hands than using clippers. Both sides of the cutting is wounded then dipped in a quick dip of 2500 KIBA. Our prop mix is 100% bark and we typically use a 18 cell tray.  We use a fogging system from early daylight to almost dusk. This has proven to work well because the bark does not get over saturated and cause stem rot, but enough mist to keep the leaves from drying out – usually about 95-98% humidity. Once the roots start forming we move out of fog and use intermittent mist.” (Sandy Reed and Donna Fare, personal communication). 

Michael Dirr (2004) recommends - single node cuttings; taken in the morning, 1000 ppm KIBA “(any commercial rooting hormone will work)”  In the Manual of Woody Landscape Plans Dirr says “Our standard procedure is firm woody cuttings in May, June, and into September, 5000 ppm KIBA dip, well-drained medium, either all perlite or 3 perlite:1 peat, intermittent mist, 4 to 6 weeks rooting time.” Dirr (2009).  Avoid over wetting the media or media that has high water retention.

Anonymous.  Hydrangea quercifolia 'Pee Wee' (accessed February 3, 2015) http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=z460

Anonymous.  USDA/NRCS Plants Database Hydrangea quercifolia W. Bartram - oakleaf hydrangea. (Accessed March 11, 2015) http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=hyqu3

Dirr, Michael A.  2004.  Hydrangeas for American Gardens.  Timber Press, Portland, OR.

Dirr, Michael A.. 2009.  Manual of Woody Landscape Plants: (6th Edition). Stipes Publishing,

Champaign, IL

Fare, Donna.  2015.  USDA McMinnville (Sandy Reed’s) Hydrangea propagation technique.  Personal Communication.

Jones, Ronald L. 2005.  Plant Life of Kentucky: An Illustrated Guide to the Vascular Plants. The University Press of Kentucky, Lexington, KY

U.S. National Arboretum Plant Introduction Hydrangea quercifolia 'Munchkin' (accessed February 3, 2015) http://www.usna.usda.gov/Newintro/munchkin.pdf

U.S. National Arboretum Plant Introduction Hydrangea quercifolia 'Ruby Slippers' (accessed February 3, 2015) http://www.usna.usda.gov/Newintro/rubyslipper.pdf