Great site, thanks! Sorry I didn't see it sooner but have it bookmarked now... :-)

It has probably grown at least two seasons in its extremely shaded spot before I transplanted and therefore stunted, so I am hoping the branches will grow out through this season. This little guy was pretty bare after the cold winter we had this year, but has rebounded quite nicely. I am just hoping he can stretch his legs and grow out a bit.

From the Hydrangea Forum: "Hydrangea anomala ssp. petiolaris is more difficult to root than h. macrophylla especially after the wood has ripened. Non-flowering shoots of soft wood have root initials along the stem that serve as aerial roots to enable the vine to cling to a vertical support. These shoots should be placed in a well-drained rooting medium and roots will develop at the site of the initials." AND... "Find a 12-15" long branch/stem and cut it the way that you'll have some old AND new growth on it. It should be pliable enough to make a loop out of the old wood. Make a loop from the bottom part of the cutting, but leave at least 6-7" of new wood free. Place the loop at the bottom of container, fill by potting medium, but let 3-4" of the soft wood sticking out. Water and put in full shade. That's it. In 2-3 weeks it will be rooted... ...If you plant cutting straight up number of buds in a soil will be limited by the height of container. By making a loop you'll be increasing number of buds under the soil thus roots will fill the container faster and plant will be ready for open ground sooner.." tj

Didn't know Mathlida Gutges is same as LA Dreaming! Great I can take that one of the list. I've almost picked it up 2-3 times. We moved about 70 hydrangea when we moved here from another WA area. They divide and can be moved easily in tubs. There are a lot of blue hydrangeas in acid soil that can be shifted to purple with the right amount of dolomite lime addition. The more color pigment in the blue the deeper the purple potential. Go too far and these can go pink or red. Three favorite examples follow. Hydrangea macrophylla 'Enziandom' is highly pigmented (as os 'Rhythmic Blue'). It's a stunner mophead in any color. Hydrangea macrophylla 'Eisvogel' is a beautiful blue lacecap in the Teller Swiss series that makes a nice purple. Hydrangea macrophylla 'Blaumeise' ('Teller Blue') is a larger petal lacecap with interesting past prime after colors. It goes pink easily with lime. But if you've careful at adjustment a purple is possible. Hydrangea macrophylla 'Leuchtfeuer' (translated "Firelight") is an old timer that likes to be a red. However, It's easy to take it towards a purple or it can be pushed to a blue. It will flower less densely in the shade as in the photo below, but can be covered with flowers with more sun. Uneven pH range in a 8' wide bush gave this. The florets centers are white at first and color fills in as it matures. Below is an unlabeled hydrangea that I couldn't resist getting. It had four 8+" mopheads on a 12" tall plant in a one gallon pot! There was nice pigmentation with a blue and pink flower each. Looking at the petal tips, purple potential is obviously there. I need to grow it in the yard to a larger size to see it's full potential. I will grow it with uneven pH distribution to try to get the multicolor effect again. I prefer unknowing the plant name. But this one had such large full florets, nice pigment density and a pearl like sheen to the petal base color. I have and have seen a lot of hydrangeas but not this one before. '(Blue) Enchantress' is a newer variety with larger than average mopheads and nice dark stems (we have a big one). The flower heads on the unknown are larger and fuller and more impressive than the 'Hamburg', 'Penny Mac'*, and some other larger flowered mopheads such as the 'Merrit's ____' series I've seen locally and at home. Flower size is more in the 'Gerda Steiniger' class size. There are larger cluster heads out there. *'Penny Mac', 'Nikko Blue' and 'nigra' compound mopheads can get as large or larger, when grown with an abundance of fertilizer and moisture. This results from side branch minimops adding into the cluster making them more dense panicle shaped than round.