I'm 'thinking' I got my Lady in Red at WM when it was gotten in for a special offer and it was just $10. I usually won't pay much more than that regardless of what it is, because I know eventually I will find what I like at a lower price, though the plant may be smaller. I can just as easily loose/kill a larger plant the same as a smaller one. Your email link still does not appear on your member page. All that appears to be changed is the garden zone is there. Also, since there is no place to put your state abbreviation, it can just go in the same box as the garden zone, and it will show up in your posts....as I am in S IN (Indiana). While you are there (again) I 'think' what you have under "Seeds to Trade" (or at least part of it) should be under "Plants to trade"...The same with "Seeds I am looking For" The hydrangeas, and rose you have listed under seeds, are they maybe cuttings? rooted cuttings? suckers? or layered starts? It helps to describe what you have to trade as best as you can. Even if they are just cuttings, you may likely find another trader who would trade cuttings for cuttings. Sue...resident busybody.

My HD or Lowes and Walmarts never ever have them here either. Everybody always posts how they find them there so I always look, ....but nope. However, a few years back the Stater Bros. grocery stores kept getting several varieties in. Haven't seen any lately though. A nursery here USED to have big specimens of several kinds that came in regularly, but this year they said they no longer carry them as the supplier moved. Bummer!

Your best chance of keeping this alive is to have purchased it from a more reputable supplier - Springhill, Guerneys, Michigan Bulb (I believe they are all related) tend to offer a lot of rather iffy stock, not to mention mislabeled plants. I'd assume the plant was quite small, like in a 4" pot. If that's the case, combined with shipping stress and summer heat, the little plant was likely at risk when you received it to begin with. Rather than planting it out directly at that stage, it might have been prudent to repot and grow on for a while until it recovered from the shipping and developed a sound enough root system to survive inground. FWIW, most zone 8 locations are pretty much ideal for growing hydrangeas of all types and Royal Red is no different or more difficult to grow than any other bigleaf hydrangea. A location in partial shade (am sun OK), in rich, organic soil and with even, consistant moisture, especially in summer, is all that is required. As a further note, it may be helpful to know that your "red" hydrangea, should it survive, will not exactly be red......or certainly not the intense red coloring that appeared in the (doctored) photo. At best, "red" flowered bigleaf hydrangeas are a dark pink - sort of a cherry pink coloring - and that coloring and its intensity will be further influenced by siting and soil conditions.

Let me give you a living example: Couple of months ago I bought some green SHISHITO peppers from Asian Market I made two jars of pickles and set aside some that were fully green and couple of them had a hint of red. I kept them on the counter And saved seeds from those that turned fully red first(the best ones). The rest was left there. They too eventually turned red. I did a test: I took seeds from one of the last ones that turned red and planted. Within 7 days they all germinated(in paper towel). Then I planted them in 3.5" pots . Now they are growing and have 6 leaves each. Now my problem is how to keep them growing indoor til April. LOL. I have saved seeds in similar fashion from Serrano, Gypsy, Cubanelle, Chilaca, and few others. The worst weak case was the SHISHITO that I just explained. So, my advice is that just keep the pods(the most mature ones) on the counter until they turn red and acually as long as they do not rot. Then save seeds from those. JMO.