The oak leaf hydrangea stands out year-round

It's easy to fall for the latest blooming beauty. But the best plants offer multiple seasons of interest in the garden.

So many of our plants are two-week wonders. They put on a show in the spring, then carry on as unnoticed blobs on the landscape until their moment of glory comes around next year.

That azalea is a good case in point. It came home from the nursery burning brightly and was carefully planted in a prominent spot. Two weeks later it only has faded flowers. There is a place on the landscape stage for these seasonal superstars, but it's not a starring role. It's a supporting role.

The spotlight should fall on plants like the oak leaf hydrangea. Right now, the oak leaf hydrangea is showing its finest attribute: long, cone-shaped panicles of crystalline white flowers.

They are showy and spectacular, and like many hydrangeas they are made up of both sterile and fertile flowers, the fertile ones being large and prominent. Individually, they are an inch or more across and composed of four petals.

Being a shade plant, the beautiful flowers help to brighten up dark corners of the landscape. But flowering is just the beginning. Those flowers will eventually fade to tan and take on a papery texture that will last through the winter.

As you might have guessed, the foliage of the oak leaf hydrangea is large and leathery with deep serrations reminiscent of an oak. It is deep green and attractive with a slightly felted paler green underside. The young leaves are prominently felted and have great character as they break bud in the spring.

In fall, the color of an oak leaf hydrangea can be outstanding, ranging from a deep merlot to bright scarlet, often depending on cultivar. The leaves of this shrub are persistent, often hanging on into November. When they finally fall, they reveal the cinnamon colored bark that peels off in papery curls.

Add to its many aesthetic attributes that it is a native plant found throughout the lower Southeast, and it is hardy to at least zone 5. No serious pests seem to bother this plant, and diseases are rare. It can be a bit slow to establish, but once it gets going it is an easy-care plant, though it will respond best to moist soil and must have some afternoon shade.

There is confusion surrounding the pruning of hydrangeas. This stems from the fact that some species flower on new wood, the wood produced during the current spring, and some flower on second-year wood. For the most part, the oak leaf will flower on second-year wood. This means that if you cut down all the stems, you will have no flowers the next year.

Pruning oak leaf hydrangeas is really not necessary unless the goal is to improve the shape of the shrub. Stems can be cut back by half after flowering if you feel the need. It will respond with lots of flowers next year. Alternatively, the shrub can be pruned by removing about a third of the oldest canes every year.

Oak leaf hydrangeas can grow to quite an impressive size. There are fine older specimens at both St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Winston Salem and at the Arboretum at Tanglewood.

Selecting named varieties offers a choice of characteristics, including limiting ultimate size. Pee Wee and Sikes Dwarf are two varieties for the smaller garden. They mature in the 4 to 6 foot height range, where some other varieties can mature at 15 feet.

Little Honey is a yellow-leaf form that arose from Pee Wee. The new growth is a soft, golden yellow and matures to bright chartreuse. It is brilliant red in autumn.

Vaughn's Lillie has extraordinarily dense flower heads of full white flowers and red in the fall color. It matures at 6 feet.

Snowflake has double flowers in dense panicles that appear as if one flower has been laid inside of another. It is a brilliant crimson in the fall.

Snow Queen has 6 to 8 inch long clusters of flowers that are borne upright on the stem. The flowers mature to rose pink and the leaves change to a red bronze.

The flower panicles of Amethyst are 6 inches long and turn from white to wine red as they age. The autumn color is a deep burgundy.

With so many varieties, it should not be hard to find a shady spot for an oak leaf hydrangea. You will be rewarded all year.

■ If you have a gardening question or story idea, write to David Bare in care of Features, Winston-Salem Journal, P.O. Box 3159, Winston-Salem, NC 27101-3159, or send e-mail to his attention to gardening@wsjournal.com.