This climbing Hydrangea is still wowing people with its flower show several months after first starting back in mid winter. Most of these Hydrangea lianas are white and have large sterile parts to their display so this plant attracts quite a lot of interest as can be seen in detail from the left hand image. It was planted at the base of a large Abies conifer about 25 years ago and apart from the occasional setback from a cold winter (-5 and below) it has thrived and has now reached about 20 metres by way of an aerial rooting system. Other plants in their native habitat have been measured at up to 60m, so this chap is just getting going!

The hybrid is derived from within the Cornidia section of Hydrangea which includes other more well known species such as H. seemanii and H. integrifolia. All originate from the New World apart from the latter in SE Asia. Freakingly this severance has been explained by long distance seed dispersal, it’s a long way to fly for sure. Excitingly there are several species planted on nearby trees which were collected by Bleddyn and Sue Wyn Jones, (with permits), in Central America. They have all survived a couple of mild winters so watch this space for more action on bare conifer stems in the Gondwanaland part of the garden.