Tuff Stuff Red Hydrangea - June 2018 Update

Back in October of last year, Nat's Mom gave us a couple of plants that I immediately stuck in the ground and then nursed through the balance of the growing season in the hope that, despite planting them so late, they would survive the winter and come back.  I recently covered how one of these plants - the Disneyland Rose - is ready to bloom this Summer here on the blog.  The other two plants included in the series were hydrangeas.  The first one I'll post here is the Tuff Stuff Red Hydrangea. 

Above you'll see a happy and healthy hydrangea that is quite small (like 6" tall and 8" wide), but has more growth on it than when I put it in the ground in October.  I didn't cut it down at all this Spring and that's because, according to this Proven Winner item description, it will bloom on *both* old growth and new growth.  From PW:

This re-blooming hydrangea begins blooming in early summer on old wood and continues to produce flowers on new wood through autumn, ensuring a showy, abundant display.

Let's consider this the first year of growth, so I'm not expecting any serious bloom-age, but it seems that we're on our way with this one.  The other one - Everlasting Hydrangea - is a different story.  But I'll post about that one tomorrow.