Lakeshore Garden Centres Plant Finder

Other Names:  syn. Hydrangea platyarguta

Description:

A deciduous garden shrub, with slender, bright green leaves, and attractive clusters of white flowers in summer; very particular to growth conditions and dies back to the ground in heavy frost, must have well drained fertile soil

Ornamental Features

Tea of Heaven is draped in stunning clusters of fragrant white star-shaped flowers with yellow eyes at the ends of the branches from late spring to early summer. Its narrow leaves emerge light green in spring, turning forest green in colour with curious grayish green undersides. As an added bonus, the foliage turns a gorgeous buttery yellow in the fall.

Landscape Attributes

Tea of Heaven is a dense multi-stemmed perennial with a mounded form. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and should only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. It is a good choice for attracting bees and butterflies to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Tea of Heaven is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Tea of Heaven will grow to be about 5 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 6 feet. Its foliage tends to remain dense right to the ground, not requiring facer plants in front. Although it is technically a woody plant, this plant can be expected to behave as a perennial in our climate if planted outdoors over the winter, usually regrowing from its base (crown) the following year. As such, gardeners should take into consideration that it will perform differently than it would in its native habitat.

This plant does best in partial shade to shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. To help this plant achive its best flowering performance, periodically apply a flower-boosting fertilizer from early spring through into the active growing season. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This species is not originally from North America.

Tea of Heaven is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its height, it is often used as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden. Be aware that in our climate, most plants cannot be expected to survive the winter if left in containers outdoors, and this plant is no exception. Contact our experts for more information on how to protect it over the winter months.

This plant is not reliably hardy in our region, and certain restrictions may apply; contact the store for more information.