The Imperial System and the Tropical Hydrangea

Unexpected connections…

Tropical Hydrangea (Dombeya wallichii), Far North Queensland. © Bronwen Scott.

I was about to leave when my friend asked, ‘Have you seen the Tropical Hydrangea?’

I hadn’t. Hydrangeas are staples of older, long-established gardens and they seem to have gone out of fashion, displaced by native species such as Grevillea and Melaleuca. They grow well on the Atherton Tablelands, where the red Pin Gin…