Hydrangea aspera

Hydrangea aspera.
Left - This deciduous shrub from the Himalayas and China has one of the most distinctive of all flowers borne by a shrub that we can grow in the UK. It is a variable species and the centres of its flowers can be anything from a pale lilac colour deep purple/violet, its leaves too can be large and mid green, covered with soft hairs, or smaller flushed purple and coarse. The plant growing here in shade has darker green leaves than the one in sun in the right hand photo. Great photo courtesy of emagen on flickr.com, see their link on our Resources Page.
Right - this plant is growing in a sheltered woodland micro climate but gets sun during the hottest part of the day in the English Country Garden. You can see the fallen stamens on the leaves as these flowers are near the end of their display.

Left - a good example of the paler lilac centre.
Right - this photo shows how the flat flower head is formed of groups of individual flowers. The colour is deeper before the buds open and usually fades as the flower ages. 
Like most Hydrangeas it may take a season or 2 to establish but then will grow reliably to reach a height and spread of about 1.5m. They are quite easy to grow and look their best in dappled shade, they will withstand fairly dry woodland conditions with some root competition, or even full sun but prefer a deep rich humus based soil. They can occasionally get a little leggy revealing their peeling paper like bark, but can be pruned back to re grow in a more compact way.