Hydrangea Heaven

August 26, 2005 - Of all the shrubs one could plant, the glorious and many coloured hydrangea is one of the most popular and best choices. Extremely forgiving in both dry and wet climates, this stalwart species can even survive on a windy shoreline or beachfront when all other best bets have turned up their toes in the face of unrelenting salt-filled breezes.

Late summer is when the majority of hydrangeas sport their white to rosy to bruised hues in an amazing array of forms. Vancouver parks have several excellent spots for viewing these hedges of crayola colours, all within easy reach.

Stanley Park - Ceperley Meadow

Near the Beach Avenue entrance to Vancouver's oldest and most venerable park, is a long hedgerow of multi-coloured hydrangeas. Find this display near the Ceperley Meadow wooden bridge just hugging that side of the pitch & putt golf course. In bloom from now until mid-September.

VanDusen Botanical Garden at 37th Avenue and Oak Street

Vancouver's very own outdoor botanical library allows visitors to learn each plants name as all specimens are labelled. The Hydrangea collection is vast here including mop heads and oak leaved while not forgetting the lace caps and numerous others numbering over 67 different forms in VanDusen's Hydrangea Collection. These can be viewed on the internet by going to the VanDusen Garden web site, clicking on "Collections" and then searching for Hydrangea.

The garden has an admission fee and is open 10 am to 7 pm for the month of September.

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