The correct botanical term is 'reversion' and it can be found with just about any variegated plant. Fully variegated plants are uncommon in nature - most are intentionally bred from a small genetic or random defect in a plant called a 'sport'. Because the variegation is often the result of a genetic abnormaiity, it is frequently unstable and prone to reversion to the dominant genetic presentation of solid green. And in many cases with unstable variegation, the more dominant genetic make-up of the reversion will in fact take over the entire plant if not removed, eventually eliminating all signs of variegation. This happens routinely with variegated euonymus and certain cultivars of Japanese maples. But some variegated plants are very stable - variegated boxwood for example - and you will almost never see any reversions. I am not sure what you are seeing with the hydrangeas is a true reversion. In some cases, variegation will develop seasonally or over time, with newly emerging or immature foliage not displaying the variegation initially when it opens but only after the foliage matures or ages. And sometimes not every leaf will ever develop the variegation and will remain a solid color. However, this tends to happen on a leaf by leaf basis rather than an entire branch or stem. I don't think I'd bother with the solid green bits now - plants are too new and probably too small to have chunks lopped off. And it's only a couple more months before they will enter dormancy and drop their leaves anyway. But I would keep an eye on them when they leaf out next season. If the same stems leaf out green without variegation and remain that way for more than a few weeks or until the plant is fully leafed out, then I would indeed remove them. And also be aware of other reversions occuring elsewhere on the plant.

Susan, Yes This is a Viridis not a Seiryu. The leaves in the picture appear large due to close up with the camera. The branches on the tree also cascade for a lovely effect. I don't think this tree is brow beaten at all. The photo only shows a flat view , if I could only show a full 360 view. It has the light airy, layered wind swept look. Due to it's age and being still a very young specimen the full impact of this style has yet to be seen. The leaders can be staked to grow upwards and then the stake moved to the opposite side. Making for a very interesting bark twig habit . Pruning here and there . Being a bed fellow with the hydrangea shouldn't pose a problem , both grow well in low PH , Both like moist but fast draining soil for intolerance of wet feet. This bed is on the outskirts of the house foundation which naturally has sharp drainage, no pooling of water here. I don't fertilize my lawn and most of the lawn is going anyway. So many of the dissectum are growing as mounds , This one should be an interesting change . I want to thank everyone for their help with this tree. I have moved it further out since posting and turned it as well . It looks pleasing plus an added bonus has been since I have planted this tree it has been overcast so this helps .

Dorothy, We only dropped down to 3 degrees and the pond froze over on top but not all the way down. All our fish must have survived just fine (I didn't see any floating dead bodies when the ice melted). I've heard of people putting them into rain barrels but haven't tried it myself. Jo, I fold them up and stack them on a high shelf in the garage. I've never had anything get into them or into the floating row covers stacked on the same shelving unit. If the thought of pests or rodents getting into your stored stuff (it hasn't happened to me, yet....) bothers you, you could buy a storage bin with a snap-on lid and store them inside of it. I do pick up things carefully (most of the time), but that's because I'm more likely to find a coppehead or a rattlesnake than a spider. Either last year or the year before, I picked up something off the ground in the garden and something that was underneath it stung me or bit my finger. It hurt worse than anything (except possibly childbirth) I've ever experienced and I was petrified it might have been a snake. When I finally stopped jumping up and down and screaming "Ow Ow Ow", I looked at my finger and there were no fang marks. In the meantime, Tim was using a stick to lift mulch and stuff and see if he could find the culprit. My finger and hand started swelling and turning red so I ran inside and took children's liquid benadryl (to get it into my system ASAP). The redness and minor swelling persisted for a couple of days, and my finger and hand hurt for almost a week. I guarantee you that after that occurred I was once again very, very careful about picking up anything. I think it likely that a scorpion got me, or perhaps one of those big yellow-and-black hornets. Both have stung me in the past and the pain was similar. It was a good lesson to me to watch where I put my hands in the garden and one I will not soon forget. You can discourage spiders in your shed by spraying with a Spider Web Eliminator product. There's also a product called Spider Not that you might liket. I used to have to order them online, but now I see them in some local stores. I'll link one below to show you what I'm talking about. I spray the garage, sheds and back porch (formerly a screened-in porch and now a sunporch) with a spider web eliminator a couple of times a year. In general, I don't worry about spiders at all except for the venomous ones like Black Widows and Brown Recluses. We have about a million spiders an acre here and I appreciate all the non-venomous ones because they help control pest insects. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Spider Not and Spider Web Eliminator

Oh my, Allison I am sorry! I wondered how your DD2 became engaged and married so fast :-( I should have known you would at least have posted a dress issue or something on the conversations board with all that wedding talk! Very sorry for that misunderstanding. But initially the posts that crossed over to houzz were not dated, so I had no idea the thread was four years old. Now I see they are dated, although in the faintest possible ink color. (Houzz must have mostly 20 and 30 something users with better eyesight.) At any rate, the groom may not have been a keeper but the flowers were lovely!