When it comes to hydrangeas, I'm certifiably loony. Or, at least, I used to be. The source of my obsession was a variegated hydrangea. I bought it in full flower, and the azure, lacecap blooms were simply stunning against the backdrop of broad, spade-shaped leaves edged with creamy white. Then winter hit and it died to the ground.
New shoots burst forth in spring, adorned with luscious foliage, but no blooms appeared.
Ditto the next spring. And the next. In my USDA Hardiness Zone 6 Connecticut garden, Old Man Winter prevailed. Protecting treasured, yet tender, plants sometimes calls for innovative structures. The author makes a miniature greenhouse for a prized euphorbia with scrap wood and plastic bubble wrap.