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This one may be impossible... My wife purchased an Hydrangea after she attended a talk at Klehm Gardens in Rockford (it was a table centerpiece). It came with no information as to which hybrid it is. I'm pretty sure that it's a form of H. macrophylla, which is usually not hardy in N. Illinois- unless it's an Endless Summer variety, which this may be (although new to me).

Why not ask Klehm, you're thinking, right? Tried that - they actually don't know, either. My main concern with the ID is to get the plant's hardiness correct, as my wife would like to keep it from year to year, and I don't think it'll do well in our semi-heated basement over the winter (too warm); I'd rather plant it and forget it over the winter.

In the photos below, the flowerheads are slightly too purple. They're definitely NOT blue or pink; mauve-ish would probably be most accurate. They may also have a white picotee, which may be difficult to see. The leaves have been preyed upon by a cat, so they're pretty ratty in some cases.

with flash

natural light

enter image description here Thanks!

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It's a Hydrangea macrophylla variety; it might be Cityline Mars, which has a picotee effect. Hydrangea macrophylla is the type of hydrangea which changes its flower colour according to soil ph, so if you planted this in acid soil conditions, it would be blue; in neutral ph, a purplish pink, and in alkaline, pink, all with the picotee effect. Hardiness zones are listed as 5a up to 9b, see here https://www.provenwinners.com/plants/hydrangea/cityline-mars-bigleaf-hydrangea-hydrangea-macrophylla

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  • Thanks, Bamboo. Not sure that it's Mars (too much picotee), but could be Vienna (no picotee, I know, but I'm not sure if what I'm seeing on the bract isn't just old bract). I think it's in the Citywide line for sure - everything else fits, especially the dwarfness and the Proven Winners label (people who don't know plants buy Proven Winners). Good news (probably) on the hardiness, although PW plants' northern hardiness has been suspect for years, unfortunately. I'm going to plant it outside and hope it gets covered with snow every winter, which should definitely help it.
    – Jurp
    Apr 29, 2019 at 22:53

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