Mystery "Hydrangea", in Shade Border by Avalon lattice

[Laura~~]

This plant was bugging me. Vigorous well past the point of invasive, spreading by runners, and would have overtaken almost all other plants in the area if it hadn't been thinned out, a lot. Looks like a hydrangea, but with super huge leaves and a different growth habit (central shoot not branching). Only one "snowball" of flowers, right at the top in the middle. Over the past couple years, I'd asked several people stopping by who seemed to have a horticultural clue what it might be, but nobody could put their finger on it.

Anyhoo, mystery solved: Clerodendrum bungei.

[high_seas]

laura -- great research. i could not figure out exactly what this plant was, i even took a pic with my cell phone in the hopes of being able to show it to some garden center clerk to see if he/she knew what it was. well, i guess we know what the thing is, i'll use the steet name "glory flower."

pf