Bought 5 in March. They’ve grown really well. Very lush. And the bloom thus far has been fantastic. Enormous. They’ve been very thirsty and wilt on really hot days (Im zone 8). Given how large they are, I’m hoping they’re growing a root system to support themselves and will need less water once established. Other than needing a bit of babying, they’ve been really beautiful and abundant plants.
Incrediball® Smooth Hydrangea Hydrangea arborescens
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Details
Features
Super-sized flowers!
Incrediball hydrangea will make you say WOW - it's an improved version of the garden classic 'Annabelle' hydrangea, but with strong, sturdy stems that don't flop over and extra-large blooms to boot. White flowers begin to appear in mid-summer and open to enormous snowballs, nearly the size of basketballs! They then age to a lush jade green, which persists through frost. It's a super easy, super reliable North American native that grows in chilly USDA zone 3 all the way up to USDA zone 8/9. Plant Incrediball hydrangea in your landscape and find out for yourself just how big, beautiful, and rewarding it can be.
Top reasons to grow Incrediball hydrangea:
- enormous, long-lasting flowers every summer
- Strong, sturdy stems keeps blooms showy and upright
- easy to grow native shrub
As seen in our "Prodigy" magazine ad.
Best SellerNative to North AmericaCharacteristics
Plant Type:ShrubShrub Type:DeciduousHeight Category:MediumGarden Height:48 - 60 InchesSpacing:60 - 72 InchesSpread:48 - 60 InchesFlower Colors:WhiteFlower Shade:WhiteFoliage Colors:GreenFoliage Shade:Dark GreenHabit:MoundedContainer Role:ThrillerPlant Needs
Light Requirement:Part Sun to SunLight Requirement:SunThe optimum amount of sun or shade each plant needs to thrive: Full Sun (6+ hours), Part Sun (4-6 hours), Full Shade (up to 4 hours).
Maintenance Category:EasyBlooms On:New WoodBloom Time:Early SummerBloom Time:Mid SummerBloom Time:Late SummerHardiness Zones:3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8aWater Category:AverageUses:Cut FlowerUses:Dried FlowerUses:LandscapeUses Notes:Landscapes, naturalizing, hedges, perennial gardens. Also makes a very dramatic cut flower.
Maintenance Notes:For the biggest, most abundant blooms and strongest stems, plant where it gets at least six hours of sun each day (warmer climates can get away with a bit less). A good layer of shredded bark mulch helps minimize water loss.
As for pruning, cut the entire plant back by about one-third its total height each spring, just as the new growth begins to emerge on stems. This serves to build up a strong, supportive, woody base while also encouraging abundant new growth for plenty of flowers.
If you wish to fertilize, an application of a rose fertilizer in early spring, once the soil has thawed, is sufficient.
Incrediball® Hydrangea arborescens 'Abetwo' USPP 20,571, Can 4,166 -
53 Reviews
524413382414Browse reviews from people who have grown this plant.-
Lisa, Alabama, United States, 14 hours ago
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Love how light and delicate the flower balls are! The plant is hardy--I shamefully mistreated it the first 3 year by keeping it in a too-small pot. It still bloomed, but small flowers. Then planted in a mostly shady spot. I'm not sure if it gets even 4 hours of sun but this year, after two years in this spot, the flowers look just like the PW website pictures. The shrub itself is still thin so I'll move it to a sunnier spot when dormant. Overall I'm really happy with this hydrangea.
PamR, Washington, United States, 41 weeks ago -
These were sold as a white hydrangea - white for a week or so and now I'm stuck with a hideous ugly sick green flower. Ripping them out next year. New flowers aren't even white - just a uniform sick green.
Sally Sotirovich, New York, United States, 42 weeks ago -
I planted my Hydrangea Incrediball in the location that gets direct sun from 7 am to 12 pm, zone 6, north east OH, following recommendations about 5+ hours of direct sun. The plant was wilting during hot summer days by 11am even though I watered it regularly and made sure the ground was wet. Last fall I moved it to the shady area that doesn't get any direct sun at all (only dappled sunlight). it's early June now, and my hydrangea Incrediball is covered with flower buds! No wilting and brown leaves. As other people mentioned, the flowers didn't stay white for long and turned into greenish color. I had to stake it because stems weren't strong enough to hold the large flowers last year. Perhaps, the plant needs to mature to have stronger stems.
Olena, Ohio, United States, 50 weeks ago -
I purchase two of these about 3 months ago and they are already growing like crazy and have small blooms all over. Great plants!
In The Glenn, California, United States, 1 year ago -
One of my favorite hydrangeas, and I'm a hydrangea girl. I planted a couple to fill in some bare spots, and these have turned into some of my favorite plants. Like others have said, the blooms do fade from white to chartreuse, but I personally love the green color they fade to. Plus, the green "incrediballs" last for such a long time! I'm planning to buy at least three more to plant along side my roses.
Kate Driscoll, Georgia, United States, 1 year ago -
I have two of these in my garden. They first bloom white but then VERY quickly fade to light green, so my disappointment is with how long the blooms stay white. One is planted in full sun and one in partial sun, so the amount of sunlight doesn’t matter. As another reviewer said, they quickly fade. Also not all of the blooms are large, only a few. I wouldn’t buy this again.
Toni, North Carolina, United States, 1 year ago -
I wish I could show a picture! Do you see that picture above of the hedge of incrediball hydrangeas? Did you think "that must be only in the best case scenario"? Because it's not! They will look like that, if you give them three years. I planted three of these in my front yard, in front of my porch. This location is not easy- it's full sun (every part of my yard is full sun, to be fair. Some just more full sun than others), little protection, etc. Now, I'm in zone 6, PA. Our summers can get warm (96 f) but we get decent rain. And for the first year, these burned and needed a lot of supplemental water. The second year they did a lot better despite the constant heat, but the branches bowed under medium sized flower heads. This third year? They exploded! Huge, beautiful flowers on sturdy stems at least 5 feet tall. I cut them back hard in the beginning of spring this year and yet they grew this tall and wide? Wow! I haven't needed to supplement water, either. Their large size help better shade the ground from the harsh summer sun (though they are mulched). Of all the plants in my front yard, these are the ones (besides tulips) that make people slow down and stare. They really are glamorous and command admiration. I'd do a huge hedge of these if I had the space. They bloom on new wood, so if they get winter killed to the ground or sat on (ahem, my dog), or you prune hard they will still bloom without a care in the world.
Sarah, Pennsylvania, United States, 1 year ago -
I purchased seven Incrediball hydrangeas a few weeks ago. These were planted on the south side of my house which is full sun. If I am lucky, one hydrangea might survive. The rest are nearly dead. Every leaf is shriveled up and wilted and all of the blooms are also wilted. This is not for lack of care on my part. The Proven Winners tag that came with the plant says the light exposure is "Sun". I am in Zone 5. I also did my research before purchasing these. This is right off of the Proven Winners website: "For the biggest, most abundant blooms and strongest stems, plant where it gets at least six hours of sun each day (warmer climates can get away with a bit less)." I did plant these where they get at least 6 hours of sun each day. So why are they dying? My guess would be because they are NOT FULL SUN HYDRANGEAS.
Cindy, Illinois, United States, 1 year ago -
We love these hydrangeas! We started with six at the edge of the front porch two summers ago. The two gallon plants were gorgeous the first year and already had huge blooms. The second summer we added eleven more from quart size pots. The quart size plants struggled a bit their first summer but have come back thriving in the their second summer. Two summers in, the quart pots look like they will fill in well and grow to 3-4 ft this year bearing multiple blooms. The plants from the two gallon pots (on their third summer) are magnificent. I pruned them back hard on fresh growth (not wood) in the early spring and they are now full, giant beasts at 4-5 ft tall. If they follow their bloom pattern from last summer, they will be utterly covered in blooms as big as my head. We had white to green blooms last summer that stayed gorgeous through September and added lovely winter interest when left on the stem. I adore these hydrangeas. Cars stop in front of the house to admire the show and ask us about them. I can’t imagine using other cultivars.
Ms. Mc, Pennsylvania, United States, 2 years ago
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