Problem with my Hydrangea

[Ricardo]

As a novice, I hope you knowledgeable folk can advise me here.

Sorry about the pic on the right - slightly out of focus.

I have an old hydrangea in a pot that seems to have developed some sort of disease/fungus. Can you tell what it is from the pic on the right? I can take more if needed.
I don't know what it is, and if I should be concerned.
Hopefully somebody here will be able to advise me.
The pic on the left is a another strange fungus-like ball that has appeared nearby on a Jews Mallow plant.
Again, sould I be concerned and how (if at all) should I treat these

[veggiechicken]

The fluffy stuff looks like a seed head with lots of seeds waiting to drift away on the wind.
The old hydrangea growth just looks like lichen to me.
I'm no expert but I wouldn't be worrying about either.
An expert will be along in a minute!!

[Jeanied]

I'm no expert but I'm with Veggiechicken here - lichen is a sign of clean air. No reason to worry about the hydrangea unless those branches are dead - cut them off when growth starts properly on the rest of the shrub. I have left my dead heading until the forecast cold snap is over, just to protect the new buds.

[Two_Sheds]

Definitely lichen - no treatment needed

"Lichens provide shelter and/or food for a very wide variety of invertebrates, such as mites, molluscs, spiders and moths which are near the bottom of the food chain. A woodland rich in lichens has been shown to have a far greater diversity of other wildlife than a woodland where the trunks and branches are relatively bare. Small birds (chaffinch, hawfinch, goldcrest and long-tailed tit) use lichen fragments to camouflage their nests"
What are lichens