Dichroa febrifuga in bloom.
And Berry
X Didrangea 'Sandy Reed' in bud.
"Sandy" opening a flower.
"Sandy" after petal drop.
Here's the description from the tag, "First time offering of National arboretum introduction possessing breeder rights, with best attributes of both Hydrangea macrophylla and Dichroa febrifuga. Flowers of this selection will be as vibrant in color at Christmas as in June. No fooling. A wonderful new addition to woody plants. Vegetative propagation is prohibited. Don't do it."
Flowers "as vibrant in color at Christmas as in June" was too much of a temptation, it had to come home with me. I've found no information online about this plant and have no idea about hardiness although I'm guessing it's at least as hardy as it's more tender parent, Dichroa febrifuga, which has been perfectly happy in my garden for several years. (Did loose one during the phormium killing winters but the others made it through.) I'm wondering if this will also produce berries.
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Wow! That's a plant that I'm going to have to track down. I used to have a whole hillside full of Dichroa febrifuga and I loved it, but I did find the foliage to be a bit weak--could have been too much shade, though. I want to know about the berries. No berries = no go, for me.
ReplyDeleteI'm interested in finding out about the berries as well! I'll keep you posted.
Delete"Vegetative propagation is prohibited. Don't do it"...you won't be doing it right? Or sharing Windcliff pictures either, right?
ReplyDeleteI won't be doing either!
DeleteFascinating hybrid. I Google "Didrangea" to see if I could glean how it'd perform in my area and discovered something interesting about internet search engines - virtually every listing referred to other bloggers' sites carrying your post title, including my own.
ReplyDeleteI searched before I posted and learned some interesting things about the woman for whom this is named and her work with hydrangeas, but nothing about this particular plant.
DeleteBest attributes of both Hydrangea macrophylla and Dichroa febrifuga, says it all!
ReplyDeleteIt'll be interesting to see how it performs!
DeleteLooks like it has a bit of everything...another great find.
ReplyDeleteLet's hope I don't kill it!
DeleteBeautiful plant, looking forward to see how it does in your gardens
ReplyDeleteShould be interesting! It goes in the ground tomorrow!
DeleteWOW! What an amazing statement in the garden. Always fun to see something completely different, especially showcasing a color seldom in the garden. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI invite you to see my first GBBD.
Thanks for the invitation, Patrick, I'll check it out right now!
DeleteI've learned another one interesting plant. Thank you Peter!
ReplyDeleteI'll be really interested to see if the fruit is like the blue berries of the Dichroa parent, and whether the Hydrangea influence increases hardiness. Cool plant! I wasn't quite ready to experiment with it myself, but I thought really hard about doing so!
ReplyDeleteDoes anywhere know where I can order one of these on the internet???
ReplyDeleteYou might try Cistus Nursery. This one came from Windcliff Plants but I don't think they do mail order.
Deleteif your still looking, far reaches does mail order of them
DeleteCistus has 3 Dichroas but no X Didrangea. And you are correct about Windcliff. I emailed Dan to ask about the plant but he never replied. It's not on their internet "list of plants" either. VERY HARD plant to find.
ReplyDeleteYou'll just have to come on over to Washington State and visit Windcliff. Sorry this is proving so elusive but that just makes us want it more, right?
DeleteI have been to Windcliff but they didn't have it then. May be back in your area before too long but that road into Windcliff is too damn narrow for me. Not even X Didrangea is worth a $2,000 dent in the side of a rental car. I did email Dan and ask him if he might know anyone that would like to make a few extra buck by shipping me one (his nursery does not ship. Got any teens that would would like to make $20-$30?
ReplyDelete