{"id":2464,"date":"2018-07-16T05:17:52","date_gmt":"2018-07-16T13:17:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/?p=2464"},"modified":"2018-07-16T05:18:45","modified_gmt":"2018-07-16T13:18:45","slug":"lacecapsnormally-when-i-think-of-lace-my-mind-settles-on-images-of-brides-and-babies-christening-gowns-artist-james-mcneil-whistlers-mother-famously-wore-a-lace-trimmed-cap-in-hi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/lacecapsnormally-when-i-think-of-lace-my-mind-settles-on-images-of-brides-and-babies-christening-gowns-artist-james-mcneil-whistlers-mother-famously-wore-a-lace-trimmed-cap-in-hi\/","title":{"rendered":"Lacecaps"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Lacey<\/a>
Lacey and lovely–“lacecap” hydrangeas are early summer stars<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Normally, when I think of lace, my mind settles on images of brides and babies\u2019 christening gowns.\u00a0 Artist James McNeil Whistler\u2019s mother famously wore a lace-trimmed cap in his \u201cArrangement in Grey and Black No 1\u201d, but she certainly did not look happy about it.\u00a0 At this time of the year, the lace that I see most often is on \u201clacecap\u201d hydrangeas and it makes me joyful.<\/p>\n

Lacecaps are varieties of bigleaf hydrangea or Hydrangea macrophylla.\u00a0 This deciduous species, which is also sometimes called \u201cFrench hydrangea\u201d, is actually native to Japan.\u00a0 Macrophyllas are most familiar in the form of the fabulous blue, pink or purple-flowered \u201cmophead\u201d hydrangeas that bloom abundantly\u2014most years\u2014in early summer.\u00a0 The mopheads feature big, globular flowerheads composed of scores of smaller, four-petaled florets.\u00a0 Reaching six to 10 feet tall and wide, the billowing shrubs bloom blue in acid soils, pink in alkaline media and purple when the soil is neutral.<\/p>\n

Lacecaps, do the same color tricks according to soil chemistry, but tend to be smaller in stature and spread, and different in flower form.\u00a0 Instead of producing big, round balls of flowers, they sprout wide, flat-topped flowerheads.\u00a0 The \u201clace\u201d is the area in the middle of the flower that is actually composed of scores of tiny true flowers.\u00a0 These are surrounded by a collar of larger, sterile florets that resemble those of the mophead hydrangeas.\u00a0 The effect is a little more subtle, but just as beautiful.<\/p>\n

Both lacecaps and mopheads feature the same large, medium to dark green leaves that are shaped like toothed teardrops.<\/p>\n

Authorities differ on lacecap commercial history.\u00a0 Denise Wyles Adams, in her wonderful book, Restoring American Gardens, 1640-1940<\/em>, notes that the \u2018Maculata\u2019 or \u2018Variegata\u2019 varieties of variegated lacecap hydrangea were listed in the American Ellwanger & Barry catalog in 1860.\u00a0 Maggie Campbell-Culver, in her equally authoritative book, The Origin of Plants<\/em>, asserts that English plant hunter, Charles Maries \u201cdiscovered the first lacecaps\u201d in Japan on a plant hunting expedition that began in 1877.\u00a0 Hydrangea \u2018Mariesii\u2019, named for Maries, was introduced commercially in 1879.\u00a0 Clearly no one told Maries that as he trekked through Japan in search of new plants, lacecaps were already on the market in the U.S.\u00a0 It is possible that the Ellwanger and Barry lacecaps were bred from \u201csports\u201d or spontaneous genetic mutations occurring on standard mophead plants and the plants discovered by Maries were naturally occurring shrubs with similar origins.<\/p>\n

Either way, lacecaps have been around for quite awhile, but have never been as popular as their showy relatives, the mopheads.\u00a0 This is changing, however.\u00a0 Not long ago, a friend, who is also an ace flower arranger, was touring a historic site and come upon a row of blue lacecaps blooming exquisitely.\u00a0 He had never seen them before and was completely smitten.<\/p>\n

The tried-and-true \u2018Mariesii\u2019, with blue lacecaps is still on the market, but modern breeders have produced a number of other winning varieties.\u00a0 Among them is \u2018Blue Wave\u2019, with vibrant blue flowers and a compact, three and a half foot height and spread.\u00a0 \u2018Lady in Red\u2019 features dramatic dark red stems and pinkish to rose blooms.\u00a0 Its leaves turn scarlet in the fall, as do those of the flashy Twist and Shout\u2122.<\/p>\n

As with mophead hydrangeas, traditional lacecaps flower on \u201cold wood\u201d, which means that this year\u2019s stems produce next year\u2019s flowers.\u00a0 The problem with that trait is that the buds can be frozen by late spring frosts, resulting in a loss of summer blooms.\u00a0 Newer varieties, like Twist and Shout, bloom on \u201cnew wood\u201d or stems produced in the year of bloom, which solves the spring frost problem.\u00a0 If you have experienced hydrangea disappointment when plants produce few or no flowers in any given year, it is worth seeking out the new varieties to fill holes in your planting scheme.<\/p>\n

All big leaf hydrangeas prefer uniformly moist soil and light shade.\u00a0 Heavier shade will result in fewer blooms.\u00a0 Mulching is a good idea for both mopheads and lacecaps. \u00a0Alternately, you can grow them in large containers, as long as you water regularly throughout the growing season and feed with commercial plant food according to manufacturer\u2019s directions. \u00a0If pesky spring frosts are a routine occurrence and you love your mature, traditional mophead and\/or lacecap hydrangeas, you can wrap yours in comfy layers of burlap in the fall and remove it in spring when all danger of frost has passed.\u00a0 This doesn\u2019t look particularly attractive, but may greatly improve the chance of abundant summer blooms.<\/p>\n

If Whistler\u2019s mother had been holding a bouquet of lacecap hydrangeas while her son memorialized her on canvas, she might have been considerably happier and the course of art history changed ever so slightly.<\/p>\n

You probably can\u2019t change art history, but you can improve your garden with lacecaps.\u00a0 Find a good selection at Hydrangeas Plus, PO Box 389, Aurora, OR 97002; 866-433-7896. www.hydrangeasplus.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Normally, when I think of lace, my mind settles on images of brides and babies\u2019 christening gowns.\u00a0 Artist James McNeil Whistler\u2019s mother famously wore a lace-trimmed cap in his \u201cArrangement in Grey and Black No 1\u201d, but she certainly did not look happy about it.\u00a0 At this time of the year, the lace that I … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,2,3],"tags":[1909,953,1908,491,1907,626,126],"class_list":["post-2464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall","category-general-interest","category-spring","category-summer","tag-color-changing-flowers","tag-dried-flowers","tag-early-summer-flowers","tag-flowering-shrubs","tag-hydrangea-marcrophylla-lacecap-hydrangea","tag-mophead-hydrangeas","tag-shade-plants"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2464"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2464\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2467,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2464\/revisions\/2467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}