Mike's Backyard Nursery

The Most Fun You Can Have With Your Bibs On!

  • Home
  • Recommended Tools
  • Products
  • Categories
    • Complete Guides
    • Gardening
    • Growing
    • Landscape Design
    • Plant Care
    • Propagation
  • Contact
  • About Mike
Home » Miscellaneous » Phantom Hydrangea, Hydrangea paniculata ‘Phantom’

Phantom Hydrangea, Hydrangea paniculata ‘Phantom’

Updated : October 16, 2020

4 Comments

Phantom Hydrangea

Phantom Hydrangea is in the panicle family of hydrangeas. That means that it is super hardy and a very predictable bloomer. It blooms on current years growth. That means that the plant starts growing like crazy in the spring, then come mid summer it stops growing and makes a flower bud on the end of each new branch. That’s why they almost never fail to bloom.

Phantom Hydrange is hardy in zones 3 to 8.

Phantom Hydrangea as the bloom transforms to pink.

When I planted these five plants in the spring of 2020 they were very small plants, just a tad bigger than rooted cuttings. They took off growing like crazy and made a ton of flowers in their first year.

Phantom can grow to a height of 48″ to 60″ but you can prune them all you want and they will still bloom. I cut mine back really hard in the fall, that way when they take off growing the following spring they stay nice and tight and compact.

The ideal time to prune them is anytime after they finish blooming until early spring.

As the blooms mature they turn a beautiful pink color. Bloom time is July through September.

Phantom Hydrangea fall color.

Phantom loves full sun and will tolerate partial shade.

I actually cut mine back in very early spring because I collect the branches that I remove and use them to make hardwood cuttings. I now do all of my hardwood cuttings in the late winter, early spring because it just works so much better for me. I used to do Hardwood Cuttings in November/December. See these two links;

Easy Winter Time Plant Propagation that You Can Do at Home.

and this; https://mikesbackyardnursery.com/2016/09/hardwood-cuttings-winter-of-20152016/

In this post you can see Pam and I making hydrangea cuttings with our two youngest grandkids. https://mikesbackyardnursery.com/2019/03/a-really-easy-way-to-make-lots-and-lots-of-new-plants/

Questions, comments, mean things to say? Post them below and I’ll respond.

Take a gander at these posts...

  • Tree Stump Removal Instructions
  • Check Out My Billy Goat Outback Brush Cutter!
  • 37 Ways to Know You’re Addicted to Gardening
  • Hydrangeas: When do I prune them? Why didn’t they flower?
  • Pittsburgh Steelers Fans

Comments

  1. Kristine says

    August 9, 2021 at 2:38 pm

    Mike – thanks for this info. My new Phantom flowers look just as your pictures do with some pink splotches and some browning. Is the browning normal and to be expected?

    Reply
    • Mike says

      August 10, 2021 at 7:58 am

      Kristine,

      Yes, the browning is the fading of the flowers, the heat moves them along quicker.

      Reply
  2. Janey says

    September 12, 2020 at 10:29 pm

    Glad to come upon this article Mike! I planted 2 Phantom Hydrangeas in April 2020 and I am in Zone 7. They were about 2 feet tall and full of leaves when I purchased them. I planted them in a raised soil bed. They seemed to be doing great for a couple of months and then the leaves on both started turning brown and dying off. At first I thought that they were getting too much sun even though there is a large tree that partially shades them. I researched and read that they do well in sun. Finally, I figured that they had a fungus and got some fungal spray. I started a weekly regimen of fungal spray and cut off all the brown, dying leaves. They have grown new leaves very quickly and I had several flowers on one of them but the other has yet to flower. I’m hoping they will do better next year. At any rate, thanks for all of the information you provide! You are very helpful to us less experienced gardeners!

    Reply
    • Mike says

      September 13, 2020 at 7:17 am

      You’re welcome Janey.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Rooted cuttings of variegated weigela in bunches to harden off.

Over Wintering Rooted Cuttings.

Posted On January 8, 2023 By Mike

Mike's Big Perennial Bed.

Mike’s Big Perennial Garden

Posted On January 8, 2023 By Mike

A Profound Thank You from Mike.

Posted On September 1, 2022 By Mike

Finnegan keeping the sun off his head.

An Old Guy, Two Donkeys, a Puppy and a Hammock. What could possibly go wrong?

Posted On July 17, 2022 By Mike

This upside down donkey is a hoot!

An Upside Down Donkey and Cute Puppy.

Posted On July 14, 2022 By Mike

'Rockin Raspberry' Bee Balm.

‘Rockin Raspberry’ Bee Balm.

Posted On June 26, 2022 By Mike

'Bubblegum Blast' Bee Balm.

‘Bubblegum Blast’ Bee Balm

Posted On June 26, 2022 By Mike

Blue Angel Hosta.

‘Blue Angel’ Hosta.

Posted On June 25, 2022 By Mike

Big Daddy Hosta.

‘Big Daddy’ Hosta

Posted On June 25, 2022 By Mike

'Humpback Whale' hosta.

‘Humpback Whale’ Hosta.

Posted On June 25, 2022 By Mike

Complete Guides

Growing, Rooting and Propagating Dappled Willow in Tree Form from Cuttings.

Growing Seeds, Winter Sowing, in Milk Jugs and Kitty Litter Jugs.

The Correct Way to Pot Rooted Cuttings, Nursery Stock Liners and other Plants.

Training Arborvitae and other Conical Evergreens to Grow with a Single Leader.

How to Propagate, Root Cuttings, of Dwarf Alberta Spruce.

Recent Posts

Blue Angel Hosta.

‘Blue Angel’ Hosta.

'Blue Angel'hosta is by far one of my favorite blue hostas. A big hosta like this in a perennial bed covers a lot of area and that keeps a ton of weeds at bay! These giant heart shaped leaves are very slug resistant. We have this plant in full sun. With … Read Full Article

Big Daddy Hosta.

‘Big Daddy’ Hosta

'Big Daddy' hosta is one of my favorite big hostas, mostly because it's big, it's blue and it has very interested leaves that are a bit dimpled. Big Daddy hosta gets about 24" tall and 36" wide. It's hardy in zones 3 through 9, the flowers are blends of … Read Full Article

'Humpback Whale' hosta.

‘Humpback Whale’ Hosta.

We sold out of 'Humpback Whale' hosta pretty early this year. Humpback Whale is pretty impressive hosta and this one really hasn't matured yet because they can get three feet high and 7 feet wide. I've also seen photos of them that show them to be a lot … Read Full Article

Ice Plant, delosperma

Ice Plant, delosperma

How pretty is that? And it's a ground hugging perennial that comes back year and year. These plants were new to our nursery last year so Pam and I planted three of them in our landscape at home. Not only did they do really well last year but they wintered … Read Full Article

Electric Red Dianthus

‘Electric Red’ Dianthus

I've been working on my perennial bed at the nursery and this Electric Red Dianthus caught my eye and was screaming "make my picture". So I did! Dianthus in general are great perennials for your garden. They are super winter hardy even here in cold … Read Full Article

Copyright © 2023 · Hill Country Digital Media, LLC · Privacy Policy · Earnings Disclaimer · Terms of Service