A Hydrangea for the Next Century

Ellen C. Wells

Hydrangea macrophylla Centennial Ruby was chosen to be the crown jewel in Monrovia’s centennial celebration, marking 2026 as the nursery’s 100th year in business. The stunningly ruby-red bloomer will have limited availability just for Monrovia customers and partners in 2026. They’re also creating buzz and collectability around Centennial Ruby by including a special tag with a limited-edition number, much as an artist would with numbered lithographs. An early spring marketing push by Monrovia will drive interest in this stunning variety.

Speaking with Monrovia’s Chief Marketing Officer Katie Tamony at Cultivate, she explained that Centennial Ruby originated from a florist cut flower breeding program. It’s a tetraploid, which florist hydrangeas tend to be, and as such has strong, sturdy stems to hold up really large blooms. About those blooms—Katie said Centennial Ruby’s flowers last for 130 days. And with a color as deep and rich as that, it slides into a “goth gardening” color palette with ease, and will certainly be a choice for anyone craving bold, romantic tones.

Topping off at just 3-ft. tall and wide, its compact nature and long bloom time make it a great plant for the front of a border or even as a container plant. As for hardiness, it’s suited for Zones 4 to 9, making it an option for a good swath of the country. 

A press release about Centennial Ruby’s release has this observation from Monrovia CEO and president Jonathan Pedersen, “When we saw this hydrangea in our trials, we knew it was special. This is the dramatic red hydrangea everyone has been waiting for with intense color and outstanding garden performance. It is the perfect plant to celebrate Monrovia’s milestone.” 

To further inform garden center customers about Monrovia’s centennial and its long horticultural heritage, they’ve developed posters garden centers can showcase within their Monrovia product assortment. For an order of $1,926 worth of shrubs, Monrovia garden center customers will receive the Landscape Legends poster. For orders of twice that amount, Monrovia will customize a poster with your garden center’s name. Garden centers will need to commit to orders by January 15, 2026, to receive the posters.

After a century, there are a lot of varieties to celebrate! The folks at Monrovia have sorted through them all and have highlighted 100 varieties in a book titled “Monrovia: 100 Years of Growing Beautifully.” Paging through it you’ll definitely see some of your bestsellers. You’ll also find a short history of Monrovia and some great stories about how these 100 legends were discovered. Find out more about this book and Monrovia’s centennial celebration by visiting Monrovia.com. GP