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New plants: Hydrangea Groundbreaker® BlushTM

The world’s first groundcover hydrangea is coming to the UK. Will it be your must-have plant in 2025?

“One plant, many possibilities.” It’s an apt summary from creator Alex Schoemaker.

Meet Groundbreaker® BlushTM, the trailblazing new hydrangea expected to make waves in the horticultural market – and our gardens – in 2025.

Year after year, new plant awards and lineups for RHS Chelsea Plant of the Year highlight the enduring popularity of hydrangeas. They’re reliable, versatile, easy to grow, and have fabulous flower power that can last for months.

Now, breakthrough breeding by hydrangea specialists Living Creations has brought us a landmark world first – a revolutionary newcomer that’s perfect for every space, from a windox box to large-scale landscaping.


What’s the story behind Hydrangea Groundbreaker® BlushTM?

Groundbreaker® BlushTM is a new introduction by Living Creations, a Dutch hydrangea breeder, grower and producer spearheaded by sixth generation nurseryman Alex Schoemaker.

Alex branched out from the family nursery business aged 16, setting up Living Creations in 1996 to specialise in Hydrangea paniculata. He has strived to develop the very best new cultivars ever since, putting thousands of plants through their paces in his Boskoop test centre and show garden.

© Plantipp-BV®
Alex Schoemaker brings a sense of scale to his Hydrangea Groundbreaker® BlushTM
Groundbreaker® was developed at Living Creations by seasoned breeder Leo Slingerland, but the groundcover habit was an unexpected breakthrough, Alex reveals.

“We were making some crosses to achieve another objective,” he says. “A grower was walking the fields at our test centre and looked at what would become Groundbreaker® and said, ‘what’s with this one?’

“I said, ‘we don’t know exactly yet, as we’re concentrating on other things’. But the grower said, ‘I’d like to have it.’ That same week, a royalty agent also visited our garden and told me, ‘I think this one could be very interesting’.

“So that’s how it started. A year later, everyone who visited was saying, ‘this could be groundbreaking’, which is where the name came from. So we got a group of growers together to bring it to the market.

“We decided a 14cm or 1.5l plant would be ideal for the landscaping sector, as you can plant four per square metre. But it’s not just for the professional market – everyone wants it.”

If you can cover your ground with flowers, that’s revolutionary

- Alex Schoemaker, Living Creations
Groundbreaker® made its public debut at the August 2024 Plantarium show in Holland, one of the biggest European trade shows, where it scooped a gold medal (KVBC Goud).

Supplier Plantline introduced Groundbreaker® to UK audiences for the first time at Four Oaks Trade Show in September 2024, where it captured the imaginations of growers and buyers alike.

Now, we can look forward to more plants making their way across the Channel very soon. Groundbreaker® BlushTM was bred in 2017, and though it usually takes around ten years to develop and bring a new plant to the market, the hydrangea will be available to European and UK gardeners in 2025.


© Olivia Drake
Hydrangea Groundbreaker® BlushTM making its UK debut on Plantline’s display at the Four Oaks Trade Show in autumn 2024
What’s so special about Hydrangea Groundbreaker®?

With a versatile habit perfect for any size of garden, a hundred days of punch-packing flower power, enchanting colours and a tough, low-maintenance attitude, Groundbreaker® BlushTM really does seem to be the hydrangea that has it all.

Conical clusters of four-petalled blooms, which start off white before warming to a rosy pink through the season, smother the neat mound of small, delicate leaves throughout summer and into autumn.

Key features

  • Flowers: July–November
  • Height and spread: 30 x 60cm
  • Habit: low, compact
  • Hardy to: –30C
  • Leaves: deciduous

Kumar Sivanathan of Plantline, who will be supplying the hydrangea to the UK market, shares what drew him to the plant.

“This is a world first for Hydrangea paniculata. It’s the first one that covers the ground and doesn’t grow above 40cm tall. It has a really nice variety of colours as the season progresses. It’s very hardy and also low maintenance, which means you don’t need to spend time pruning it every year.

 “It’s a really interesting plant for landscapers, for covering large areas. It’s resilient, doing well in sun and drought conditions,” he says.

The buyers say, can I have one for myself? That’s when you know it’s a good one

- Alex Schoemaker
“There’s no formal definition of a groundcover plant,” adds Alex, “so we chose to define it as a plant that grows to at least twice as wide as it is high. Groundbreaker® BlushTM grows to a height of 30cm and a spread of 60cm.”

“I think it will cope well with climate change, and also covering ground is better for the environment as it provides habitat and retains moisture. Hydrangea paniculata, from which Groundbreaker® is bred, is probably the most climate-adapted hydrangea there is, and the best for cold winters and hot summers, with flowers persisting for two to three months,” says Alex.

“There are so many possibilities for this hydrangea – you can grow it in a pot, a container, a windowbox, a hanging basket, as groundcover in the garden.”
 

© Plantipp-BV®
The elegant flower clusters start off white...
© Plantipp-BV®
...before maturing into shades of pale pink
How to grow Hydrangea Groundbreaker®

Groundbreaker® thrives in a well-drained spot in sun or part shade, but will do best when it receives 6-8 hours of sun per day.

The hydrangea’s uniquely low, compact form makes it ideal for growing in everything from pots on the terrace, balcony or patio table, to small gardens, the front of borders or as a groundcover, as well as for mass planting in landscaping projects.

“With Hydrangea paniculata you can’t really do anything wrong,” says Alex. “You can prune in spring if you have to, and it flowers on the new season’s growth so there’s no risk of making mistakes and pruning off the material that would have gone on to flower as there is with some other hydrangeas.

“For Groundbreaker®, because it grows sideways into a nice low, compact habit, you don’t really need to prune – we just deadhead.

“Just water, feed and repot in fresh compost every few years if growing in a container. We use a slow-release feed once a season. Water the soil, not the plant and make sure you’ve got a well-drained, airy mix to help it thrive and promote more life in the compost,” he says.


© Plantipp-BV®
Groundbreaker® will thrive in a container...
© Plantipp-BV®
...and in a border or swathes of groundcover
Where can I buy Hydrangea Groundbreaker® BlushTM?

Hydrangea Groundbreaker® BlushTM will be available to buy in UK garden centres from the beginning of July 2025.

In the meantime, look out for the hydrangea making an appearance among the new plants presented at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2025.


What next for Hydrangea Groundbreaker®?

If you’re excited by BlushTM, watch this space – this is just the beginning of a new Groundbreaker® era.

“We’re making lots of crosses with BlushTM, and will probably have to do two to three generations,” says Alex. “We’re aiming to extend the range within the next five years into different colours – deeper pink, green, white – and to make these available across Europe over the next five years.”

“We keep a close eye on what’s on the market and what could be better – the branching, the flower colour, a longer-lasting flowering period,” he says. “We’re always looking for something special.”

“Sometimes nature throws something at you that you’ve never seen before. That’s what we experienced with Groundbreaker®.”

© Plantipp-BV®
About the author – Olivia Drake

With a background in plant sciences, Olivia is passionate about plantsmanship, sustainable horticulture and tackling environmental issues through gardening. She is trained as a botanical horticulturist and previously worked in public gardens around the UK and abroad.

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