A flowering deciduous shrub, Grin and Tonic is a bigleaf hydrangea from Bloomin’ Easy. Although the shrub is small, it still has a full, beefy appearance; and from midsummer through early fall, it blooms and reblooms on old wood in full-sized mopheads. The florets in these large clusters open lime green and turn bright white as they age, for a contrast that lasts throughout the bloom season. Borne on long, strong stems, the flowers sit above a mound of fleshy dark green leaves and last a long time. They make great cut flowers for floral arrangements, fresh or dried.

With the first frost, the mopheads turn a tan to caramel color, adding a pleasing textural element to the winter garden. The newly exposed hollow stems not only lend additional interest with their shredding and peeling papery brown bark, which reveal glimpses of an underlying cinnamon hue, but also offer bees a nesting habitat.

As winter approaches, the mopheads turn