A bigleaf hydrangea, 'Glowing Embers' is a woody deciduous flowering shrub offering year-round interest. Compact and dense, 'Glowing Embers' blooms and reblooms on old wood from midsummer through early fall. The florets, clustered in large (up to 8-inch), full mopheads, open white and turn deep rose-red to rich burgundy purple, depending on soil acidity. Held aloft fleshy dark green foliage on strong stems, the long-lasting flowers make excellent cuts for fresh and dried arrangements.
After the first frost, the flower clusters turn tan to caramel, and along with the shredding and peeling papery brown bark on mature plants that reveals glimpses of the underlying cinnamon hue of stems and branches, they add a textural element to the winter garden, especially pleasing in a snowy landscape. The hollow stems also provide nesting habitats for bees.
With cain-like growth, this multi-stemmed, suckering shrub has a mounded habit and a rapid growth rate. The shrub's compact size is perfect for a container. It makes a great specimen plant, but it's shown to best effect when grouped or massed and is especially nice in mixed beds and borders.
A shade-friendly shrub, easy to grow and maintain, hydrangea grows best in partially sunny locations with organically rich, moist, well-draining soil. Morning sun and afternoon shade typically works well. Hydrangea can tolerate more sun if the soil is kept consistently moist, and 'Glowing Embers' is bred to be especially drought tolerant but adding a 2-inch mulch is highly recommended. 'Glowing Embers' is also disease and pest resistant as well as slightly salt tolerant.
Hydrangea macrophylla change colors with the pH of the soil, turning pink in alkaline soil and blue in acid soils.
