Hydrangea Section Macrophyllae Cultivars I–J

'Immaculata'

Flowers with slightly serrate sepals, pure white ageing green in shade, pink in sun; heads very large when heavily pruned. Compact, height to about 1 m. Introduced 1951 by August Steiniger, Germany. Still in the European trade but particularly popular in New Zealand, where shade is recommended to avoid sun scorch to the flowers (Church 2007; van Gelderen & van Gelderen 2004; Association Shamrock 2022).

'Impératrice Eugénie'

An old plant, probably H. serrata × macrophylla, and reputedly one of Philipp von Siebold’s introductions (1868) from Japan (Association Shamrock 2022). It is not common today, and confusion reigns: Haworth-Booth (1984) knew it from the mid-20th century onwards as a mophead; van Gelderen & van Gelderen (2004) acknowledged this but had only ever seen a lacecap under the name. A 2024 trawl of internet images shows both (pers. obs.). Perhaps there has at some time been reversion; and Lawson-Hall & Rothera (1995) note that certain ‘Preziosa’ plants have lacecap inflorescences later in the season. Either way, sterile florets are white flushing pink and ageing red.

'Inspire'

(You&Me® Series) Flowers double with long, narrow sepals, light blue / light pink, ageing greenish; remontant. Stems long and sometimes floppy; height to about 1.6 m. Selected 2002 by Ryoji Irie, Japan, and named for his wife. Protected by US Plant Patent 26,824 and European Plant Breeders’ Rights (Dirr 2021; Signature Hydrangeas 2024; Google Patents 2024).

Hydrangea 'Inspire' in flower at The Botanic Nursery, Wiltshire, UK (2 July 2024). Image Jack Aldridge.

Hydrangea 'Inspire' has double sterile flowers with strikingly long, narrow sepals (The Botanic Nursery, Wiltshire, UK; 2 July 2024). Image Jack Aldridge.

'Izu-no-hana'

Sterile flowers double, light blue/pink; fertile flowers slightly darker blue/pink, crowded. Leaves thick, dark and glossy, rather narrow and sometimes distorted. Compact, to about 1.25 m; tolerant of full sun. A wild find, pure H. macrophylla, on Honshu’s Izu Peninsula around 1970 by Takemi Iida, while walking his dog (Church 2007; Foster 2023; Hirasawa 2024; Association Shamrock 2022). This cultivar flowers well in northern New York State for Tim Boebel (2011), who rates it his ‘all-time favorite macrophylla cultivar […] a wonder to see up close’. ‘Jōgasaki’ and ‘Shamrock’ are rather similar, from the same area.

Hydrangea macrophylla 'Izu-no-hana', a double-flowered wild find with unusually narrow leaves for a macrophylla. Image Maurice Foster.

Hydrangea macrophylla 'Izu-no-hana' in its pink phase (Savill Garden, Surrey, UK, 12 July 2026). Image John Grimshaw.

Pale late-season flowers on Hydrangea macrophylla 'Izu-no-hana' (Avenue Cottage, Ashprington, Devon, UK; 17 October 2023). Image Julian Sutton.

Hydrangea macrophylla 'Izu-no-hana' in autumn (Avenue Cottage, Ashprington, Devon, UK; 17 October 2023). Image Julian Sutton.

'James Grant'

Sterile flowers white, sepals toothed and scarcely overlapping; fertile flowers blue / lilac. Selected as the best from a garden seed batch (parentage unknown) sown during World War II by James Grant, head gardener at Grayswood Hill, Surrey, UK. ‘Grant’s Choice’ is a different plant from the same batch, often confused though quite different (Dinsdale 2013; van Gelderen & van Gelderen 2004).

Hydrangea 'James Grant' (private garden, Ayrshire, UK; 24 August 2023). Image Julian Sutton.

'Janis Joplin'

Sterile and fertile flowers white, in small inflorescences; a dense, twiggy plant to about 0.75 cm; floriferous at its best. Found 1993 un-named in Japanese cultivation by Corinne Mallet, and named for the singer (Foster 2023; Association Shamrock 2022).

Hydrangea serrata 'Janis Joplin' has small, white inflorescences (White House Farm, Kent, UK; 12 July 2023). Image Julian Sutton.

Hydrangea serrata 'Janis Joplin' proving very floriferous at White House Farm, Kent, UK (12 July 2023). Image Julian Sutton.

'Jean Varnier'

A pigmented sport on ‘Lanarth White’ sharing many of its virtues. Sterile flowers pale lilac / pale pink; fertile flowers pigmented; floriferous, with small to medium sized inflorescences. Sun and drought tolerant; height to about 1.5 m. Found 1994 in the garden of Dr Varnier in Normandy, France; named by Robert Mallet of the Shamrock garden (Foster 2023; van Gelderen & van Gelderen 2004; Association Shamrock 2022).

Hydrangea 'Jean Varnier', a sport on 'Lanarth White' has pale lilac to pale pink flowers. Image Maurice Foster.

'Jōgasaki'

Sterile flowers double, with many rounded sepals, mauve to blue / silvery pink; fertile flowers pigmented, crowded; inflorescences terminal only. Vigorous, even ‘aggressive’ (Boebel 2011); height to 2 m. Good hardiness credentials, although in Derby (central England) it needs winter protection to flower its best (Hydrangea Derby 2024). A wild find, pure H. macrophylla, on the Jōgasaki Coast of Honshu’s Izu Peninsula before 1980 by Tatsu Hirasawa (Church 2007; van Gelderen & van Gelderen 2004; Hirasawa 2024; Association Shamrock 2022). ‘Izu-no-hana’ and ‘Shamrock’ are rather similar, from the same area.

Hydrangea macrophylla 'Jōgasaki' is tall, vigorous and rather hardy (private garden, Ayrshire, UK; 24 August 2023). Image Julian Sutton.

Hydrangea macrophylla 'Jōgasaki' has double sterile flowers (private garden, North Devon, UK; 16 September 2024). Image Tom Christian.

Hydrangea macrophylla 'Jōgasaki', a wild-origin cultivar from coastal Honshu (private garden, North Devon, UK; 16 September 2024). Image Tom Christian.

'Jong02'

Inflorescence form intermediate, initially looking like a lacecap but increasingly mophead-like as it matures. Flowers tending strongly to dark red. Leaves purple-black, much darker than ‘Merveille Sanguine’. Height to around 1.2 m. A seedling from ‘Dark Angel’ selected 2017 by Dutch breeders Peter Kolster and Kees Eveleens. Currently mass-marketed in Europe, protected by European Plant Breeders’ Rights and US Plant Patent 33,480 (Rice 2024; Promesse de Fleurs 2024; Google Patents 2024). H. ‘After Midnight’, a ‘Preziosa’-derivative marketed in North America, is an entirely different plant, although online nursery descriptions in Europe sometimes garble the two.

Dark leaved Hydrangea 'Jong02' (AFTER MIDNIGHT) has an intermediate inflorescence form. Flowers tend strongly to red. (Nursery stock at Kolster BV, the Netherlands). Image Marco ten Hoope, Kolster BV.

Dark-leaved cultivars such as Hydrangea 'Jong02' (AFTER MIDNIGHT) can often look their best in containers. Image Marco ten Hoope, Kolster BV.

'Joseph Banks'

Flowers with scarcely overlapping sepals, sometimes slightly serrate, cream opening to very pale blue/pink; inflorescences hemispherical to globose, large, always terminal. Leaves big and glossy; stems stout and strong; habit very vigorous, height as much as 3 m. Wind tolerant, suiting mild coastal gardens (Church 2007; Lawson-Hall & Rothera 1995; van Gelderen & van Gelderen 2004; Association Shamrock 2022). One of the founding mopheads of Western gardens, obtained from Chinese cultivation for Kew by Sir Joseph Banks around 1790, most likely through a merchant in Canton (Guangdong). It formed the type of Hydrangea hortensis Sm., finally being given a clonal name by Michael Haworth-Booth in the mid 20th century (Smith 1792; Bean 1981; Haworth-Booth 1984).

Hydrangea 'Joseph Banks' in pink mode (RBG Edinburgh; 11 October 2016). Image Ross Bayton.

Hydrangea 'Joseph Banks' is wind tolerant, suiting coastal gardens, although here growing in optimum conditions for many Asiatic hydrangeas (private garden, Ayrshire, UK; 24 August 2023). Image Julian Sutton.

Hydrangea 'Joseph Banks' is one of the founding mopheads of Western garden stocks. It reached Europe in the late 18th century, not from Japan but from Chinese cultivation (private garden, Ayrshire, UK; 24 August 2023). Image Julian Sutton.

'Jpd01'

Leaves dark red, approaching black on acidic soils. Sterile flowers intense pink with paler centres on suitable soils. Flowering on side shoots as well as terminally, long flowering period claimed; height to perhaps 1.2 m. A controlled cross between H. ‘Julisa’ with red-tinted leaves and ‘Mak20’ (TUFF STUFF™), an H. serrata hybrid, selected 2014 by Jean-Paul Davasse, Angers, France. Protected by US Plant Patent 33,412 and by European and Canadian Plant Breeder’s Rights. (Google Patents 2024; Kordes Jungpflanzen 2024)

Hydrangea 'Jpd01' (DAREDEVIL) with purple-black leaves on a young plant grown in slightly acidic soil (Avenue Cottage, Ashprington, Devon, UK; 17 October 2023). Image Julian Sutton.

'Julisa'

Flowers carmine-red on suitable soils; leaves tinted purple-red when young, becoming dark green, red in autumn; height to 1.2 m. Selected by 2011 as an improvement on its progenitor ‘Merveille Sanguine’ by Jean-Paul Darvasse of Boos Hortensia, France, it is itself a parent of ‘Jpd01’ (DAREDEVIL) which has longer lasting, more intense leaf colour. Protected by European Plant Breeder’s Rights. (Boos Hortensia 2024; Association Shamrock 2022)