Actinidia kolomikta, rather than a Hydrangea. Notice that apart from other differences the foliage is alternate, not opposite.

I feel like an idiot! But thank you!

Don't. It's just practice. But the leaf arrangement is always a handy elimination tool to bear in mind.

I'm currently obsessed (or I should say, still obsessed) with the furry leaved H. robusta/aspera/sargentiana part of that genus...and I believe I have seen pictures, somewhere, of one of them w/reddish new growth. So I just assumed this was another one w/o looking carefully.

They are proving to be slightly maddening in this climate though, being more root rot prone than maybe any other Hydrangea I've tried.

Floral do you see many of the furry leaved Hydrangeas in your part of the UK? They would grow just fine, but since I'd never seen them there (and certainly saw many normal H. macrophyllas either on my travels to the UK, or in UK books or media) I wonder if they are more popular in the places I first noticed them in my travels, which was northern Italy. I saw them at several gardens around Lago Maggiore.

What a great garden, floral_uk! I’d love to explore there!

It wouldn't take much exploring. It's tiny.

Good things in small packages!

So true!