Remember those big white snowball-y bushes that bloomed next to Grandma’s porch all summer long? Believe it or not, those everyday flowers were where they started hybridizing to get these fancypants. Some temples in Japan have whole hillsides covered with so many varieties of hydrangea, you can’t count them. Here are a few:
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Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Japan, produces the monthly e-magazine Japanagram, and blogs at Only In Japan and The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had
Only In Japan 
Thanks, Jonelle for the beautiful pictures. The Japanese are such fabulous gardeners! Phoebe
Thanks, Phoebe! They really are good, aren’t they? And the hybrids! I don’t know how they make such gorgeous varieties – so many that I’ve never seen anywhere else.