Hydrangea Annabelle: did a grenade go off?

After a sudden downpour overnight, I arrived at work this morning to find poor Annabelle looking as though, well, a bomb had gone off! 

"Who's Annabelle?" I  hear you cry, concernedly. It's ok, it's not a person, it's a plant - Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle' to be exact, one of my ultimate favourite Hydrangeas, because it is as tough as old boots - normally! - it's super-easy to grow (just chop it back to knee height every year, no faffing about) and the flower heads are HUGE!!

Here she is, all flattened - left.

A bit of a shocking sight! Normally, this is how the plant looks:

This  photo - right - was actually taken the previous year, as I didn't have a comparison photo, but you get the general idea: nice upright stems, heavily weighted with enormous blooms.

So, did I panic? 

Did I run around, tearing my hair out? 

No, I left it alone, knowing that once the water drains off, it will bob up again and be as good as new. 

Sometimes, if I have time, I gently shake off some of the water to help them, as Annabelle has such gloriously large flower heads, or “inflorescences”, as we botanists say... but usually, they will recover perfectly well on their own. 

This particular specimen has a rather Heath-Robinson contraption of metal hoops around it, just below the level of the hedge, but as you can see, the overnight rain was just too much for it!

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