# Oakleaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia)

> Oakleaf hydrangea, Hydrangea quercifolia: a shrub of 3 to 12 feet for zones 5 to 9, when it flowers and fruits, and the natives we grow for the same ground.

Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/species/oakleaf-hydrangea/

![An oakleaf hydrangea flower cluster of broad white sterile flowers around green buds, beside lobed leaves](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/oakleaf-hydrangea-2-1000.jpg?v=72c39a8d "Oakleaf hydrangea in flower at Cahaba River National Wildlife Refuge, Alabama, on May 20, 2009. It blooms from May to July, and songbirds eat its seeds.")
*Photo: Garry Tucker, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, [Public domain](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ABlossoms_at_Cahaba_River_(5687565296).jpg) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ABlossoms_at_Cahaba_River_(5687565296).jpg))*

Shrub, 3 to 12 feet, zones 5 to 9; full sun, part shade or shade; dry or average ground.

We do not grow oakleaf hydrangea, and it is not in our shop. This page gathers what our tools say about it and the natives we grow for the same ground.

## At a glance

| Fact | Oakleaf Hydrangea |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | Oak-leaved hydrangea |
| Form | Shrub |
| Height, feet | 3 to 12 |
| Spread, feet | Up to 10 |
| Zones | 5 to 9 |
| Sun | Full sun, part shade or shade |
| Soil moisture | Dry or average ground |
| Growth | Slow |
| Leaves | Deciduous |
| Traits | Showy flowers, fall color, wildlife value, hedge or screen, winter interest |
| Flowers | May to July |
| Fruit | Capsules, September to November |
| Pollination | Needs a second, unrelated plant. A lone oakleaf hydrangea sets almost no seed: its flowers are self-incompatible by a HortScience study of 2004, and 3,000 selfed flowers gave five seedlings in an earlier trial. Plant two unrelated plants for seed. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Toxicity | The bark, flowers and leaves are poisonous to people, dogs, cats and horses. |
| Ground | Rich moist slopes, stream banks, rocky ground and the forest understory |
| Native in | 7 states |

Oakleaf hydrangea is native in 7 states: [Alabama](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AL), [Florida](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=FL), [Georgia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=GA), [Louisiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=LA), [Mississippi](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MS), [South Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=SC) and [Tennessee](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TN). The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from Silvics of North America and NatureServe Explorer. The USDA PLANTS Database also records it growing wild beyond that range in [North Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NC) and [the District of Columbia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DC), where it is naturalized, not native.

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=oakleaf-hydrangea): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=oakleaf-hydrangea): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=oakleaf-hydrangea&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree): the planting-distance tool
- [What grows with it in the wild and in a yard](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=oakleaf-hydrangea): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=oakleaf-hydrangea): the planting-window tool
- [When it flowers and fruits, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=oakleaf-hydrangea): the bloom and fruit calendar
- [How to sow its seed, with dates for your place](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=oakleaf-hydrangea): the seed sowing planner
- [How many to plant for a crop of seed](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=oakleaf-hydrangea:2): the pollination planner
- [Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=oakleaf-hydrangea): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its height](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=oakleaf-hydrangea): the tree age estimator
- [How a big one scores by the champion-tree formula](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=oakleaf-hydrangea): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [Alabama Snow-wreath](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/alabama-snow-wreath/index.html.md) (*Neviusia alabamensis*): shrub, 3 to 10 feet, zones 4 to 8. Shares rich moist slopes, stream banks, rocky ground and the forest understory in the wild.
- [Wild Hydrangea](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/wild-hydrangea/index.html.md) (*Hydrangea arborescens*): shrub, 3 to 6 feet, zones 3 to 9. Shares rich moist slopes, stream banks, rocky ground and the forest understory in the wild.
- [Roseshell Azalea](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/roseshell-azalea/index.html.md) (*Rhododendron prinophyllum*): shrub, 3 to 10 feet, zones 3 to 8. Shares rich moist slopes, stream banks, rocky ground and the forest understory in the wild.
- [Bracted Arrowwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/bracted-arrowwood/index.html.md) (*Viburnum bracteatum*): shrub, 6 to 10 feet, zones 6 to 8. Shares rich moist slopes, stream banks, rocky ground and the forest understory in the wild.
- [Softleaf Arrowwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/softleaf-arrowwood/index.html.md) (*Viburnum molle*): shrub, 6 to 12 feet, zones 5 to 7. Shares rich moist slopes, stream banks, rocky ground and the forest understory in the wild.
- [Pinxterbloom Azalea](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/pinxterbloom-azalea/index.html.md) (*Rhododendron periclymenoides*): shrub, 3 to 6 feet, zones 4 to 9. Shares rich moist slopes, stream banks and the forest understory in the wild.
- [Every companion of oakleaf hydrangea in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=oakleaf-hydrangea)

## Read from

Its figures come from Silvics of North America, NC State Extension, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Morton Arboretum, the Wildflower Center, UF/IFAS Extension, the University of Connecticut's plant database, Trees and Shrubs Online and the USDA PLANTS Database.