No, Jroot. I'm keeping this beautiful tree, for sure. I have never tried clippings from it, and don't know if it would work. But there's no need to try, because this tree is prolific with seed, which is what I am offering. The seeds are viable and extrememly easy to grow.

As this shrub HAS been such a poor bloomer, it won't be any sacrifice to go ahead and begin pruning it into a tree this season before it gets any larger. Hopefully, as it continues to grow the trunk will thicken and that will help support the flowers it may have next year. I always have to amend the soil here, but this plant has been at the edge of a fairly woodsy area and pretty much on it's own... I haven't done any soil conditioning at all. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens with this guy next year! Thank you again for the info... identifying the plant was a huge help!

I just found: Hydrangea Chlorotic Mottle Virus The symptoms of HCMV infection include mottling (random patterns of light green, green, and yellow), reddening of leaf tissue, and curling or deformation of young tissue. Hydrangea Chlorotic Mottle Virus infects only cultivars of Hydrangea macrophylla. This includes 'Endless Summer' 'Nikko Blue' and 'All Summer Beauty'. The virus will not infect cultivars of Hydrangea paniculata, (eg. 'Unique', 'Pink Diamond' and 'Limelight') or Hydrangea aborescens (eg. 'Annabelle' and 'Grandiflora'). In examining the virus, plants from seven different families were tested. All plants were resistant to the virus except H. macrophylla. The virus can be spread by green aphids (Myzus persicae), through propagation, or through mechanical damage that might occur in splitting, transplanting, or pruning infected and healthy plants with the same equipment. What long term effect the virus has on plant health is unknown, but it is suspected to play a role in poor survival of H. macrophylla in some gardens. I think it may already be too late, the other two hydrangeas may already be infected, but I can only hope. I am getting rid of this one today. I am just posting this so others can be warned. I really have all the virus bad luck, first the hosta virus, then I thought the canna virus and now a hydrangea virus. Here is a link that might be useful: Hydrangea Chlorotic Mottle Virus

Hi, again. I went to the nursery this weekend with a friend that I garden with and we came back with some four-foot Swan, Unique, Limelight, The Moth, and Quick Fire. And some pictures. If you want, I'll email you the original pictures which would be larger files and better quality than the ones that I've got at Photobucket. And I'll post or send you some more pictures of the Swan that I took, similar or different, if you want. The Swan in the pot we bought and the ones planted out in the Nursery had been kept pruned to encourage a tighter structure (and I'm getting the idea that this is an uphill battle with this plant), and so the pictures might not reflect the real habit of the plant or its flowering. When I first approached the planted Swans, I thought that they were suffering from a lack of water, but, I think the droopiness is the nature of the plant. The owner of the nursery is a fan of hydrangeas and said that this droopiness with the wonderfully large-petaled (sepals?) flowers will be appreciated when it gets to be a large speciman. Another thing you see with this plant, especially in comparison to all the other varieties planted out along side it, is that the plant is a much paler shade of green than the other varieties. This is all very much fun. I haven't had much experience with the Paniculatas, but here I go. Hay.