They are very similar...the real difference is with the stems and the flower blooms...the young incrediball plants look almost exactly like a young annabelle - but after the second and third season, you can tell the difference by the stems - the stems of incrediball are a lot thicker...if you know what a Sharpie marker is - I think that's the most comparable description for the stems' width - as thick as a Sharpie marker...the leaves maybe a tag larger than the regular annabelle, but i couldn't tell the difference...A grower told me that the PW people is recommanding to ship out the older plants for sale...maybe they get the same complains like you have - look just like an annabelle, couldn't tell the difference, customers may think they get the cheaper annabelles - the older plants should have thicker stems and held up the blooms much better...so go to check out the nursery samples and look at the stems...

Thank you, orchidacea, for the informatiion...it gives me hope that I have the real thing. Later today I'll try to upload a picture of the "other Incrediball" I saw at the nursery.

If it is in a Proven Winners pot with an appropriate label, then chances are virtually 100% it is true to the label. Proven Winners is a very large and well-respected plant marketing operation and not very inclined to mislabeling their plants. And having worked in the retail and wholesale plant nursery industry for many years, I can say with confidence that various growers' plants will have a distinct appearance in that not all growing conditions are identical and therefore the plants will not look identical. I see this on a weekly basis with new plant deliveries - two Incrediballs grown by two different growers may look very different from each other at the nursery initially but will become indistiguishable from each other once established in the landscape.

Just for the record..I bought 12 incrediballs last fall....in the proven winners pot with the appropriate label.....then bragged about it here on GW and later found out that none of them were correct. I did report it to proven winners and I think they took some action..don't know for sure......but I know that some growers out there are not taging their inventory correctly...save your receipt.

simplycharming - I bought five last year, in PW pots, labeled Incrediball on both hang tag and pot, that were paniculatas. I was able to return them, and also notified PW, who did follow up. But my experience last year has left me a little more wary.

Sadly we all have to be wary....thanks to all here that help each other in such situations. I traded in my not-Incrediballs for 28 not yet blooming annabelles.....so I too have my fingers crossed that they are correct, having already had the experience of buying a boat load of the not-annabelles before....when will I learn....lol..I will either be in heaven....or I will be digging out and returning these too...muttering something about never buy annabelles not in bloom....
Judy

Oh man, that would so disapointing! I have been looking around for Incrediballs the past few weeks. I would be super bummed if I really was sold an Annabelle! I once bought a Nikko Blue and when it bloomed found out that it was a Domotoi. I don't know about PW, but I know for Wave petunias that you can buy the pink pots that say "Wave" on them. Would people really be so unscrupulous as to purposely misrepresent plants? (Rhetorical question - I already know the answer.)

I don't believe the Incrediball plants are that incredible. They aren't all they are cracked up to be anyways.

echinaceamaniac - Why? Are the stems not as sturdy as advertised?

maahydrangea - if WFF has IB in stock, you should go there and check it out yourself. People in this forum has different take on things...I, myself, trust my eyes more than anything. I saw IB in a growers' field in fall of 2008, the "finished" plants (those ready to sell at 3-gal size pots next season in spring) were impressive...very large bloomheads and very thick stems...I told the grower he must save one for me - but no luck - everything was pre-ordered and sold...all I got from him and another online store were sticks in a qtr-pot...naturally I trust the ones I got from him as the real thing (more so than the ones I got from soonerplantfarm)..but turned in 2009 growing season, the full dozen of these grew exactly the same way, so I am pretty much relieved that I didn't get cheated by someone...i show my IBs to some of my friends/clients and gave all but two away (for myself)...the feedback from all these people (and their gardens) is good - the worst winter in thirty yrs here in Jersey didn't do a thing to these plants vs a lot winter kills in other shrubs...I think IB is an Annabelle on steriods - it grows quickly, large flowerheads, and very thick stems...if you goto WFF and checkout IB...you should try to get some of their annabelles and compare...if not, try to compare the stems of IB and Invincibelle (the pink annabelle), I am fairly sure you can tell the difference, assume they are around the same age...the way I see IB is for someone wanna annabelle, but need to have it grow quickly and fill the space, along side with the big flowersize and sturdy stems...to most people, a regular annabelle looks just fine...but so far I am reco'ing my fellow gardeners to keep an eye on IB, get that instead of the regular annas...I think price is still an issue for most people, along side with next to impossible to find the more mature size of IBs in the mkt...my grower friend told me all his 2010 pots been preordered for 2011 season already...crazy times out there...maybe not as crazy as the incredible short of supply of the Bloomerang lilacs (my grower friend got me a 3-gal bloomerang, and could of sticks in a qtr pot..I am comparing them to the Josee lilac sticks I have, and a very established Josee in my own garden..so far, all I can say is bloomerang is a fast grower, a bit sprawly, Josee is more neat, maybe a tag slower in growth...the real test is to see if bloomerang indeed reblooms like Josee - which my old Josee plant does in july and sept..esp. sept when the temps are cooler..)..

jmho.

They have tons of Incrediball locally here. They can't get rid of them. They were 30% off last week. They did do a good job of hyping those plants, but I don't think they lived up to the hype at all.

maybe Masshydrangea should drive down to TN to find out the "tons" of unsellable IBs there...LOL..

here's a picture from the nursery - Annabelle on the left (leaves look just like my Incrediball) and their Incrediball on the right. The leaves of their Incrediball are rounder, smaller, thicker and more puckery. It seemed like more of a differance than I would expect due to growing conditions.

That being said, I saw another "Incrediball" today where I bought mine. One plant looked like it had more old stems, and the new growth from those did seem thicker than a regular Annabelle. I'm feeling slightly optimistic.

Here is a link that might be useful:

the incrediballs in the nursery are fairly young plants...they look exactly the ones i got last season when the sticks began to leave out...this yr, the more mature leaves look exactly like the darker green (big) leaf in the picture with the pointy tip...the young leaves are more ovate and round vs the more mature ones with darker color and a pointier tip...i have grown annabelles in my garden and my clients'// and I honestly dont think you can tell the difference between the two by the leaves alone.. (altho I start to think IB is an Anna on steriods, so younger IB could look exactly like a well established 4-5 yr old Anna...and the IB leaves maybe even a tag large...My est from a few very mature IBs i saw (in 5-gal pots), the leaves are larger than grown man's palm - 7-8'' X 5-6'' - my est.)...the biggest difference i can tell is with the sturdiness of the stems..IB's stems are thicker than the annas, about 1 cm across my est (almost like a stalk of a regular white asparagus)...

btw - all those 2-gallon pots of IB...the plants there look very young to me...maybe they jam two sticks (those you can find with the qtr size or 1 gallon size pot) into a 2-3 gallon pot and sell that as the larger size ones..

Orchidacea - you are really tempting me to make the trek to WFF, aren't you? :)

masshy...not exactly, just tempting ypu to drive down to TN to get their tons of unsellable incrediballs...haha..if you goto WFF. you do have to keep your wallet close and hold it tight...i usually get there once or twice a yr (3 hrs drive for me), and they never disappoint in showing me all the new stuff...some has done in my garden super-well...some are so so...have fun...

Orchid - I am going to be in NC next month - I wonder how far echinaceamaniac's sale nursery is from the border. :P

Seriously. I saw large plants with buds last week at 30% off. They had many of them. We are all so easily marketed something we already have. This plant is basically Annabelle under a new name. LOL.

I received a reply from Proven Winners. I ended up sending them numerous pictures of both my plants and the ones I saw at the nursery that looked different. Here is their reply after reviewing the pictures:

The plants are of different ages and that is why you see a difference. Incrediball will have larger, darker heart shaped leaves while Annabelle is more narrow. Most people would not be able to tell the difference as a young plant as they are the same species. it takes about three years in the garden for both plants to mature and to see the real difference. With maturity the Incrediballs will have much larger flowers and stronger stems. These traits are not as visible as a young plant.

Guess I'll know for sure in about three years, but for now I feel about 80% certain I have Invinciballs. Assuming I do, I got a very good deal, and it will be a fun experiement to see how they perform.

RUTH - fits perfect with what I hear from the growers...the PW people is telling the growers to sell the older plants - 3 yr olds, in 3-5 G pots - first, and try to hold off to push the younger plants to retailers...

you really have to know your hydrangeas and be able to tell the difference at the young age... the real observation on IB vs Anna is the growth rate, the diameter of the stems, and maybe the leaves are a tag larger in the IBs...thus i think IB is really a beef-up Anna on steriods...the selection process probably somehow get the most robust clone from a number of Anna seedlings...

if you put an IB and the pink Invincibelle next to each other, at the same age, you are gonna find the IB has stems at least twice as thick as IV's..even they both have the same annabelle genes in them.

I purchased five IB in 2010.I had never heard heard of them, but I trusted the owner of the nursery. The hype and pictures were "incredible". I dug up some other ones to plant them. They are FANTASTIC (incredible).They are loaded with blooms that range from 12" in diameter to 4" in diameter. This nursery had only five at the time and it appeared that no one was interested in them. I took all five because I had heard the hype. Luckily they were seven gallon instead of the one or two gallon ones. They grew like rockets. People are coming from all over the neighborhood to see them. I know they are wondering why their's are not growing like mine.