Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Harlequin’

With white-edged, slightly serrated purple to pink petals, this mophead hydrangea should be planted where the fragile flowers will not burn in the sun and where there is some winter protection for the thin branches. The color will depend on the acidity (blue) or alkalinity (pink) of the soil.

Ours is placed near the entry, but alas is obscured by the low hanging branches of the Cercidiphyllum (Katsura) tree….but it is well worth hunting out. I originally put it there so that it could be seen from the garage window (against which it leans).
Bred in 1957 by the prolific hydrangea hybridizer August Steiniger in Germany.