For sale at Dancing Oaks Nursery in Oregon: "Early, significantly fragrant, small white lace-cap blooms are scattered on plants that eventually grow 5' tall and wide. Leaves are initially purple, then green splashed with white, and in fall, soft yellow, marbled with bronze-purple. Seldom seen, this Hydrangea is very elegant, one of the poets of the genus. Site it where its refined nature doesn't have to compete with plants that clobber you with their glorious extroversions. More sun = more purple in leaf."

It smells sweet. H. Golden Crane also has fragrance and it is sweet also. Not Daphne like or rose sweet but pleasant. You have to get close to Splash, but not Golden Crane. It send its scent around the garden - but bees are not particularly attracted to Golden Crane. H. Plum Passion is noted for it's beautiful foliage and most descriptions poo poo the soft pink/coral infertile blossoms, but the bees just cover the fertile blossoms and I think it is really beautiful. Here are some shots of Plum Passion I took this weekend. It is not blooming yet but the purple foliage is gorgeous - especially with the light shining through the leaves. The plant is about 8 feet tall and I can get under the branches to take the pics.

I found GC for sale locally last year. If a nursery in this area had it then, there has to be someplace near you that sells it.Check here: https://yhst-27104608415819.stores.yahoo.net/hydrangea-angustipetala-golden-crane.html

I do not know the place... I only found it when searching the Internet... Good luck! Ophoenix likes it!

Hutch, the photo above is H. Plum Passion. Golden Crane has a lot of fragrance and my only be purchased commercially from Monrovia. I bought my plant about 5 years ago directly from Dan Hinkley at a local plant sale. Monrovia may sell it and their Dan Hinkley plants are on their website under his name. Where are you located? Dan gives many lectures in the PNW and some plants are available to buy at some of the lectures. Check out his website for more information...........https://danieljhinkley.com/plants/   Here is a shot of the blossoms - they are yellow when they open and then fade to white.

Ophoenix, in your neck of the woods, what pollinators appear to be attracted to GC's fragrance? Aside from the local homo sapiens? ;o)

Luis, I will have to pay better attention. The scent is to heady that I have not noticed. Certainly not as many bees as the Plum Passion that just loudly buzzes with all the bees. The beautiful blossoms are of course the non fertile blossoms of the lace caps. The shrub was almost decapitated by a hose when it was first planted (7 years ago?) and about half of the plant is around 4 feet tall, and the other half has 8 to 10 feet tall branches that grow along the stair case leading to the back garden. I have let them get as big as they can because they cover a really ugly fence blocking the site under the deck. lol

Hutch, I grew up just across the street from the arboretum, on the west side! After many years in CA we moved back to Seattle and now live in Shoreline. Dan is one of many treasures in our area! He will be the featured speaker at the members meeting of the Northwest Horticulture Society, May 31 at the UW Urban Center. NHS is a wonderful organization - with a rather lofty name - and offers classes, tours and fun events. Send me an email at shirley @ ophoenix.org and I will send you more info. There used to be a way to send email directly from GardenWeb but I can't find the link.