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RHS guide (RHS guide to hydrangeas)
Autumn colour, on arrival, 8 Oct 2026
Hydrangea 'Polestar'
Hydrangea paniculata Polestar ('Breg14')
A dwarf panicle hydrangea, arrived as a 9cm plant still in its wrapper, with the leaves already turning red, purple and yellow for autumn. One of the earliest of its kind to flower: white from early summer, turning pink and then red.
The leaves will drop for winter. Prune in early spring, back to a low framework.
- Common name
- Hydrangea 'Polestar'
- Section
- Trees & shrubs
- Spot
- Patio
- Soil
- Nursery compost
- Options
Potential
A patio pot plant for good: it stays about knee high, so it never needs the ground.
- From
- An online plant retailer, Oct 2026
- Age
- About 1 year (best guess)
- Next repot
- Around Oct 2026
- Edible
- ❌ No, and not for Tinks or Zorro either: hydrangeas are toxic to cats.
- Hardy
- ✅ Fully, though potted roots like shelter in a hard freeze
- Garden-centre price
- about £10 (estimate)
Did you know?
Panicle hydrangeas ignore soil chemistry: no amount of tinkering will turn one blue. They also flower on the current year's growth, so a hard spring prune only makes the flowers bigger.
Care & updates
- What to expect
- Flowers Jun–Sep.
- Arrived
Arrived by mail order in a 9cm pot. Leaves colouring up for autumn; one root out of the bottom of the pot.