FlowerFull Smooth Hydrangea Features Strong Stems, Loads of Flowers and Healthy Leaves
FlowerFull smooth hydrangea features stems that won’t flop over and foliage that stays healthy all season.
FlowerFull smooth hydrangea is a new cultivar of North America's native Hydrangea arborescens. This hydrangea was bred to have very strong stems that keep its rounded white flower heads from flopping under their own weight or under rain and wind. This is a low-maintenance shrub that fits well with other shrubs in a foundation planting or as a backdrop for perennials. It blooms in summer with full sun or part shade.
Common name: FlowerFull smooth hydrangea
Botanical name: Hydrangea arborescens 'Baiful'
Origin: Hydrangea arborescens is native to the United States' Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions, where it grows in woods and along stream banks. The cultivar named FlowerFull, bred for stronger stems and disease resistance, was introduced to the garden market in 2025 by Bailey Nurseries under their First Editions brand.
Flowers: Small white florets appear in large, dense, rounded heads beginning in midsummer. As they age, the flowers turn greenish and then brown in autumn, remaining attractive among later bloomers, ornamental grasses and shrubby plants with colorful fall foliage. Flowers of this species open from buds that are formed on the year's new growth.
Foliage: Broad and roughly heart-shaped, similar to those of a bigleaf hydrangea (H. macrophylla). The color is deep green. FlowerFull smooth hydrangea has exceptionally healthy foliage and avoids the leaf diseases, like powdery mildew, that can affect its species in later summer, remaining clean and green into autumn.
Size and habit: This is a rounded deciduous shrub reaching three to four feet tall and four to five feet wide.
Growing FlowerFull hydrangea
Exposure: Full sun to part shade
How to grow it: Site in full sun to part shade. Afternoon shade is particularly helpful in the hot summers of the South. Like other hyrdangeas, FlowerFull likes regular watering, with soil that does not dry out. Consistent moisture is extra important in full sun.
The time to cut back smooth hydrangea is in early spring, before growth begins. This will not affect the coming summer's flowers, which will open from buds formed on the new growth of the year. Cut back the oldest stems by about half or two-thirds their length. Leaving a few younger stems in tact can help maintain a good structure.
FlowerFull smooth hydrangea is hardy in USDA Zones 3–8.
Image courtesy of First Editions Shrubs & Trees