Hydrangea

  I have had this hydrangea for probably over 10 years. During that time I have only seen its beautiful lavender/blue blooms twice. In fact its been so long I am not even sure of the color, or the name. However, I think it may be a Nikko. I had it growing at the NE end of my home. It received only indirect light, and direct sun from about 2 pm on. The problem is that it is one that only blooms on old wood, so if the winter is too harsh for it, there is no chance of bloom the following season. I have to admit, the large chartreuse leaves are gorgeous in their own right.
   Well last Fall I spent hours, off and on trying to get it dug out. I have fibromyalgia, so even on good days I am not able to do a lot. Finally, my husband had some time, and he came out to help. Luckily, cause it was all we could both do to drag it up the hill 15 feet to its new spot in my raised bed. I was afraid it might look out of place since it is fairly large (4'x4'), But actually after seeing it in place ,I was thrilled, the Large leaves is what my bed needed for contrast. I was hoping the stones walls around it might put off some solar heat and keep the branches from dying this year. I also had good intentions of wrapping it with bubble wrap this winter and never got around to it. Anyway, I checked on it recently and low and behold , it has leaf buds on some of the branches. I would say about half of the branches have them so far. Our temps even got down to around 8° this winter.

This year I will be prepared with my camera, to get some shots of it in bloom. Maybe then I can get it identified.