Rough-leaved hydrangea
Hydrangea aspera
Hydrangeas grow in most gardens, including on four beds in the new section of Penderecki’s park. For the shady position behind the manor, the composer chose a different variety: the big-leaf hydrangea (H. aspera ‘Macrophylla’), with the lower surface of leaves covered by rough felt-like down.
Its particularly spectacular and elegant flower heads comprise two types of flowers, fertile and sterile ones, which makes it bicoloured. In the wild it grows in southern and eastern Asia. As a garden shrub, it can be up to 4–5 metres tall, or sometimes even grow into a tree.