SMHPPINO

Hydrangea

Variety Description

Variety used for comparison: 'Limelight'

Summary: The plants of 'SMHPPINO' are shorter than the plants of 'Limelight'. The colour of the stem of 'SMHPPINO' is dark brown whereas the stem of 'Limelight' is light brown-green. The sepals of the sterile flower of 'SMHPPINO' have a medium degree of overlapping while those of 'Limelight' have a weak degree of overlapping. When the sterile flower is fully open, the colour of the inner side of the sepal of 'SMHPPINO' is light green becoming white towards the margin while the inner side of the sepal of 'Limelight' is light yellow with a light green tone around the veins. When the sterile flower is aged, the colour of the inner side of the sepal of 'SMHPPINO' is light green becoming white towards the margin with a blush of purple red at the margin while the sepal of 'Limelight' is yellow green with a blush of purple red at the margin

Description:

PLANT: non-climbing type, semi-upright growth habit
STEM: no fasciation, dark brown, white lenticels

LEAF BLADE: no lobing, elliptic shape, medium length of tip, obtuse base, very shallow incisions of margin, no variegation, medium green on upper side, absent or weak glossiness on upper side, medium degree of blistering

FLOWERING: begins mid to late season
INFLORESCENCE: conical shape, inconspicuous or slightly conspicuous fertile flowers
STERILE FLOWER: single type, medium degree of overlapping of sepals
STERILE FLOWER SEPAL: no incisions of margin on all sepals, when flower is newly open main colour of inner side is light green (more yellow than RHS 145B-C), when flower is fully open main colour of inner side is light green (RHS 145C-D) becoming white (RHS 155C) towards margin, when flower is aged main colour of inner side is light green (RHS 145C) becoming white (close to RHS 155A) towards margin with blush of purple red (RHS 54C) along margin
FERTILE FLOWER: inner side of petal is white

Origin & Breeding History: 'SMHPPINO' was bred and developed by the breeder, Timothy D. Wood, of Spring Meadow Nursery, Inc. in Grand Haven, Michigan, USA. It originated from an open pollinated cross that occurred in July 2007 between the variety 'BarF2' as the female parent and an unknown male parent. 'SMHPPINO' was selected in July 2009 for its strong stems and very large, showy inflorescences with light green sepals. Asexual reproduction of 'SMHPPINO' by softwood cuttings was first conducted in July 2009, in Grand Haven, Michigan, USA.

Tests & Trials: The comparative trial of 'SMHPPINO' was conducted as an outdoor container trial during the summer of 2014 at BioFlora Inc. in St. Thomas, Ontario. It included a total of 12 shrubs each of the candidate and reference variety. All shrubs were grown from rooted cuttings and transplanted into 11.4 litre containers on June 19, 2013. Observations and measurements were taken from 10 shrubs or parts of shrubs of the candidate and reference variety on August 15, 2014. All colour determinations were made using the 2007 Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Colour Chart.

Comparison tables for 'SMHPPINO' with reference variety 'Limelight'

Plant height (cm)

Colour of inner side of sepal of sterile flower (RHS)

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Hydrangea: `SMHPPINO` (left) with reference variety `Limelight` (right)

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Hydrangea: `SMHPPINO` (left) with reference variety `Limelight` (right)