Cape Cod Hydrangea Festival 2023

July 3, 2023 | C.L. Fornari | Hydrangeas

It’s about far more than blue mophead hydrangeas…

Last month, when it was clear that the winter had damaged many of our Hydrangeas, people frequently asked me, “What about the Hydrangea Festival? Will you have to cancel?” My answer was that the show would go on, because this festival is about far more than our beloved blue hydrangeas. Here are some of the many reasons we have to celebrate in this ninth anniversary of the festival.

The Cape Cod Hydrangea Festival is a celebration of summer gardens, organized under the umbrella of our signature plant, the Hydrangea macrophylla. But we whether the blue mopheads are abundant or not, we rejoice in many aspects of Cape Cod gardens.

The Hydrangea Fest is about discovering new plants.

Walking through the gardens that are open during the festival, you’ll undoubtedly find new plants or varieties that you weren’t familiar with. Be sure to take a camera and ask the garden owner to identify plants that are new to you.

One year a new Calibrachoa caught many visitors’ eyes…

The Stewartia is in flower in early July, and it’s a tree that people tend to be less familiar with. Garden visitors often ask about this tree during the Cape Cod Hydrangea Festival.

The Festival allows you to see how others design in their gardens.

Visiting other gardens is a great way to get ideas about new or different plants, but it’s also an opportunity to see how people have combined plants in their gardens. How do others design and maintain their perennials? Are they adding annuals to their gardens? Which plants are people using for “socks and shoes” around their Hydrangeas? What have they done for privacy screening? When you visit other gardens, you can take photos and ask the property owner about plant identification, how they water or fertilize, and what they do about those rascally rabbits. Be sure your phone/camera is fully charged, and go into gardens with a pen, notebook, and eyes that see beyond those beautiful Hydrangeas.

“What is that low, purple-foliaged plant?” people would ask. It’s *Alternanthera* ‘Little Ruby’ – a plant that we commonly have in the “accent plants” section at Country Garden in May and early June.

How do others create displays, or handle things like their hoses? Look to see the ways that gardeners can unite an area around a color…in this case, coral and terracotta.

You might get ideas about hardscaping, and attention to details.

The Hydrangea Fest is about our seaside location.

One reason that we grow blue hydrangeas – and all the other Hydrangea varieties and colors – so well is that we live in a maritime climate. We have warmer winters (with sporadic exceptions, as we saw on February 4th) and cooler summers. The air is humid, but not oppressive. And of course our ponds and marshes, plus the canal and ocean, perfectly compliment the plants we love.

During the Cape Cod Hydrangea Fest we celebrate location, location, location.

The Cape Cod Hydrangea Festival celebrates people as well as plants…it’s about community.

Last year the festival raised over $100,000. for local nonprofit organizations. That alone is worth celebrating. This year there are 31 nonprofits that will benefit. Since Cape Cod organizations often compete for the same pool of donors, or repeatedly ask the same local businesses for donations, this event is important: it provides income from other sources.

Entry to most gardens is $5.00 per person. Some nonprofits have sales of plants, products or baked goods that raises additional monies for their organization.

The entry fee for each garden goes directly to a local nonprofit. In recent years many of these organizations have made more money from the Hydrangea Fest than from any other fundraiser.

This year, the festival is also about the hardier hydrangeas!

Because so many of our blue lacecaps and mopheads were damaged last February, one thing that garden visitors will learn in 2023 is which Hydrangeas are more bud-hardy or are faster to flower on new growth. Go into gardens prepared to note which plants survived the cold plunge better than others, and to learn about the newer varieties that are being selected for their quick blooming on new canes that come up from the ground.

In my garden I have been completely impressed with Let’s Dance Can Do. This new variety from Proven Winners did die to the ground, but when the new growth appeared every stem immediately began to flower. I have seen this with Let’s Dance ¡Arriba!, Let’s Dance Rythmic Blue and Let’s Dance Sky View as well. Older varieties such as Tuff Stuff have also done well in that their buds were less likely to be damaged by the cold.

The Cape Cod Hydrangea Festival celebrates local garden centers.

After the homeowners who so generously open their gardens for the benefit of nonprofits, at the heart of the Hydrangea Fest are local garden centers. They are the sources for healthy Hydrangeas and accurate information about all manner of plants. They are the go-to locations for native plants as well as the exotic blue mopheads. And they are the family-owned businesses that know Cape Cod gardening.

Hyannis Country Garden is a Principal Sponsor of the Cape Cod Hydrangea Fest because they are all about cultivating our Cape Community: people and plants.

The Festival encourages everyone to enjoy all the summer pleasures on the Cape.

From flowers to food or blossoms to beaches, Cape Cod is a pretty special place. The festival invites residents and visitors to step out of their normal routine to savor the area. Whether it’s a visit to one of our museums or a stop for an ice cream along Route 6A, there are treasures, sweet and simple, to be savored.

Stop in for an ice cream cone, pop into a glass blower’s studio, or take the kids to one of our many play areas. Enjoy all the delights of summer on Cape Cod!

To view a description of gardens that are open day-to-day during the festival, go here. Click on each date to see the garden descriptions.

To download a flyer of open gardens on each day, click here.

To see a list of talks and events, go to this page on the Hydrangea Fest site.

To see the Hydrangea Fest Events at Hyannis Country Garden, go here.

Yes, the Cape Cod Hydrangea Fest is a celebration of plants, people, and our beautiful Cape Cod. Join the fun!

Posted in Hydrangeas