What shrub? Fuzzy-looking white flowers, opposite leaves

In the Wharton Grove, right next to the Rhododendron auriculatum whose buds seem even less open than two weeks ago, is a shrub we can't remember if we've seen before. The flowers aren't quite open yet. Hairs are a little deceptive - they didn't feel as fuzzy as they look, though they weren't prickly either.

 

Try more photos in a week or two? I suspect they may be flower spikes developing, rather than individual flowers.

 

Wouldn't you think I could recognize a hydrangea by now? I am certain that this is Hydrangea aspera subsp. strigosa, one of several hydrangeas listed in this plot. I posted one in another location six years ago, that had a label (and is in the database as) Hydrangea strigosa. It will have nice blue fertile flowers - it's the last set of photos at July 25, 2012 - the first five minutes. Those two names would have to be the same, wouldn't they? It is just starting to open its flowers.

 

Not only that, but the same day last week that I posted the unknown shrub, quite nearby, I photographed this Hydrangea aspera 'Macrophylla' (speaking of confusing names), only got as far as thinking that the shrub in question looked like something I should recognize.

 

Here is the original plant, Hydrangea aspera subsp. strigosa, two days ago.

 

Douglas Justice included this plant in his August 2020 in the Garden - UBC Botanical Garden blog, calling it Hydrangea aspera Villosa Group. I checked with him to make sure he was talking about the same plant. He replied that

Hydrangea aspera subsp. strigosa is nowadays reduced to synonomy under H. aspera. This is a difficult group and fraught with botanical disagreements, but the fuzzy hydrangeas (H. aspera) with narrow leaves and soft, shaggy hairs are conveniently placed in the Villosa Group. It’s good to remember that taxonomy is a moving target.​

I think Garden Explorer has it now under this name in the Wharton Grove (it's a little hard to tell where those dots are on the map).