Ruby Slippers Oakleaf Hydrangeas Colorful Blooms - July 2022

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I bought and planted a pair of Ruby Slippers Oakleaf Hydrangeas from the Morton Arboretum Plant Sale this Spring.   Here's the location and lay-of-the-bed where they went in. I've had trouble with Oakleaf Hydrangeas being eaten up by dang rabbits in the past, so I decided to ring these in chicken wire to protect their tender shoots this Summer - their initial growing season.

By last month - the end of June - they both were showing the beginnings of tall, pointy blooms.  Three weeks later?  They're starting to earn their name by putting some color on those blooms.  

See below for a look at the pink that is emerging in mid-July on these flowering shrubs:

I don't want to jinx myself, but (*knock wood*) so far, so good when it comes to the chicken wire.  These have seemingly avoided being decimated by the dang rabbits and leads me to believe that I REALLY need to wrap all of these in wire this Fall ahead of Winter.  

Location: Downers Grove, IL, USA

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