The only flaw I see in the use of the Oak Leaf Hydrangea is "privacy" being listed. It drops its leaves when it gets cold (but has beautiful bark). Are you looking for evergreen?

As for me, I have several. I love them. They're on a heavily-clay side of the house that tends to be mostly shady. Here are some pictures (below) from last year (2nd year of growth; they doubled in size over last 12 months!)

1: Plant closeup
2: Bloom closeup
3: Plant zoom out
4: Another plant, mixed with ferns etc.
5: Long shot of the side yard with these plants

Note: The plants are 2x as big. I need to go take more pictures, because the side yard went totally nuts this year (sleep/creep/leap), and all of the plants over there are in their "leap" phase it seems. You can see more of the pictures of that side yard and others from 2008 @ http://satellitehead.com/landscape - maybe you can find other ideas looking there as well?

The only other thing I can say is that, in my experience, ours seem to be fairly moisture dependent. Too much sun and/or drought/lack of water, even in established ones, can lead to wilting and generally looking ill. My neighbor has big one ~7 years old, drought almost killed it in '07. I don't have much to worry about because that side is mostly clay and mostly shade, so it stays pretty moist all the time.

I would also consider planting a couple of cherry laurels (thanks, esh!) since they're native and found in your area, evergreen, beautiful, provide food for birds, and don't seem to care about the soil they're planted in. They get 15-25' tall and half that wide, so think about where you're installing them :) I had 2-3 pop up in my yard and thought they were tea olives/sweet olive until I got a better ID here.

Oakleaf's perform much better in the coastal area of GA, than macrophyllas and serratas (the only other species I've tried there). They may need watering for the first year or so, in the absence of rainfall, but once the roots are settled in, they grow very rapidly and are fairly drought tolerant.
In that climate, they often retain some of their foliage throughout the winter.

Forget about Cherry Laurel or any other member of the Laurel Family! There is a devastating disease, called Laurel Wilt Disease, spread by the Redbay Ambrosia Beetle,
that is killing thousands of trees in SC, GA & FL and continues to spread.
Believed to have entered this country 7-8 years ago from China, via wood-crate packing material and first recognized in 2002 at Hilton Head Is., SC, when the Redbay trees (Persea borbonia0 there began to die.
A real concern for the Avocado (Persea americana) growers in FL.
Rb

Thanks to you both for your suggestions and information. Privacy isn't really an issue so if it did drop its leaves, that would still be ok.

In the absence of rain, I believe the close proximity to the carport would enable the plant to receive ample water (even if done by my parents) and it would get the water runnoff from the slope of the roof.

I did tell them that it would take about 3 years before they would see the growth and size of the pictures that I shared but they are willing to wait. This plant doesn't require maintenance so its a good plant for them.

Right now, there is NOTHING in their yard and I want something pleasurable to look at when I drive up to this house. I guess its safe to say that the plant is as much for me as it is for them and this is a good place to start.

I just wanted to make sure that this was a good plant for this spot.

Thanks,
Dora