A few weekends ago, while taking refuge from a rain shower, I picked up the newly-arrived Spring Hill Nursery Catalog and spotted a pink Annabelle Hydrangea on the front cover.
Annabelle.
Pink.
Wow!
White Annabelles are the wow factor in my garden, besides the trees. Surely a pink Annabelle, could only add to the effect, I thought.
I raced online and placed an order, holding my breath until the transaction went through, afraid they would be sold out before I could claim mine.
A few days ago, the pink Annabelle arrived, incredibly well packed and fully intact. Here “she” is, Hydrangea arborescens “Invincibelle Spirit”:
If I didn’t know better, I would have been shocked by the apparent dead canes in the pot. Looking closely at the plant though, you can see multiple new buds break leaf at the base or out of the wizened canes. In my experience, the canes of the white Annabelle look dead in February/March. I thought I’d lost all three white Annabelles after their first Winter in my garden. By June though, they were already putting on a spectacular show of fist-sized, sage green flower heads which turn to a buttermilk white in full bloom.
I expect great things of this pink Annabelle. If she’s to compete with the white Annabelles, she must produce a multitude of flowers which are breathtaking in full bloom, but interesting nonetheless in the weeks before and after. Now, if she flops and wilts less in the peak of bloom, she’ll be way ahead in the competition.
