Overview
Uses: Mixed borders, foundation plantings, outdoor containers, and cut flower gardens.
Benefits: A compact reblooming hydrangea that flowers on both old and new wood, so a hard winter or late frost does not cost you the season. Blooms open honeydew green and age to sky blue, soft lavender, or pink depending on soil pH, and it turns blue easily.
USDA Hardiness Zones: 4–9
Sun: Full Sun to Partial Shade
Life Cycle: Deciduous Shrub
Growth Habit: Mounding, Rounded — compact, tidy ball.
Bloom Color: Sky Blue, Lavender, or Pink (varies with soil pH)
Foliage Color: Dark Green
Mature Height: 2–3 feet
Mature Width: 2–4 feet
Bloom Season: Early summer to fall
Growth Rate: Moderate
Summary
Soft sky-blue flowers on a compact hydrangea that still blooms after a cold winter.
Let’s Dance Sky View® is a reblooming hydrangea bred from bigleaf hydrangea and its close relative, mountain hydrangea. It flowers on both old and new wood, so the first blooms open in early summer and new ones keep forming into fall. If a hard winter or late frost damages the older stems, the plant still blooms on its new growth.
The flowers open a pale honeydew green and mature to sky blue in acidic soil, shifting toward soft lavender or pink as the soil pH rises. It turns blue more readily than many bigleaf hydrangeas, and plants in between can show several shades at once.
It forms a tidy, rounded mound about two to three feet tall and up to four feet wide, sized for foundation beds, the front of a border, and patio containers. The stems cut well for small summer bouquets.
Care
Let’s Dance Sky View® Reblooming Hydrangea Care
Plant in full sun to partial shade. Morning sun with some afternoon shade is ideal in most regions; in cooler northern gardens it can take more sun with steady watering.
Give it moist, well-drained soil enriched with some organic matter. Soil pH controls the flower color: acidic soil brings sky blue, and neutral to alkaline soil brings lavender to pink. A soil acidifier worked in around the plant deepens the blue over a season or more.
Water deeply once or twice a week through the first year, and keep the soil evenly moist in summer heat. The leaves wilt quickly when the plant is dry. A layer of mulch helps hold moisture.
Feed lightly with a slow release fertilizer in spring. Too much fertilizer favors leaves over flowers.
Keep pruning light. Wait until new leaves appear in spring, then remove only dead or damaged stems. Healthy older stems carry the early-summer flower buds, so avoid cutting them back hard. Removing faded blooms during summer keeps the plant tidy and encourages more flowers.
Growing in Containers
Its compact size is well suited to patio and porch containers. Choose a pot with drainage holes and a quality potting mix, using an acidic mix for the bluest flowers. Container plants dry out faster than plants in the ground, so check moisture often in warm weather, and feed lightly each spring, since frequent watering washes nutrients from the mix. Roots in containers experience greater cold exposure than roots in the ground. Plants hardy in the ground may require winter protection when grown in containers in colder zones.
Size
What Size is the Let’s Dance Sky View® Reblooming Hydrangea for Sale Online?
Our Let’s Dance Sky View® Reblooming Hydrangea ships in a greenhouse-grade grow pot and is appropriately sized for its container at the time of shipment. Plants ship dormant or near dormant in the off-season, so they may arrive with few or no leaves. If you have specific sizing or planting questions, please contact us.
How Large Does Let’s Dance Sky View® Reblooming Hydrangea Grow?
Expect about 2 to 3 feet tall and 2 to 4 feet wide at maturity, in a compact, rounded mound. Space plants about 3 feet apart for a low border or mass planting.
Additional Information
What is the botanical name of Let’s Dance Sky View® Reblooming Hydrangea?
The botanical name is Hydrangea macrophylla x serrata Let’s Dance Sky View® ‘SMNHSME’. It is a Proven Winners® ColorChoice® Flowering Shrub from the Let’s Dance® series.
What are some common names for this plant?
It is most often sold as a reblooming hydrangea or bigleaf hydrangea. Its other parent, Hydrangea serrata, is known as mountain hydrangea.
How do I get the bluest flowers?
Blue comes from acidic soil. Sky View® turns blue more easily than many bigleaf hydrangeas, so in naturally acidic soil you may not need to do anything. If the blooms come in lavender or pink, apply a soil acidifier in spring following the product directions. Plants near concrete foundations and walks tend to lean pink, because lime from the concrete raises the soil pH.
What does reblooming mean for this hydrangea?
It means the plant forms flower buds on last year’s stems and on the current season’s growth. The old stems bloom first, in early summer, and the new growth keeps producing flowers through late summer into fall. In colder zones, where winter can damage the older stems, the new-growth blooms still give you a summer show. For more compact flowering shrubs, see our Shrubs & Bushes.
