Have you looked at Snowflake Oakleaf hydrangea?
This is my first year for them and they are just fantastic.
The double flowers give a nice full look.
I think there is also a dwarf oakleaf called Pee Wee.
Mary

yes, I have the same shade/sun requirements & have been trying to get my hands on Pee Wee. It's supposed to be no larger than 4-5'.

Hi Goswimmin & all Hydrangea lovers - Good morning!

I just picked up the only OH, finally available, in our area and it is Alice OH - I've been contemplating on an OH since last year after I saw my son's in his NC garden ... the foliage color change was simply awesome! All the plant nurseries I go to including HD and Lowes all sold out by the time I got home in Oct. This time I visited NC in Jun - got to see his OH in full bloom and more buds still opening!!!

The Alice OH tag claims zone-5 hardiness; size 4'Tx5'W; Exp. full to part sun. I just assumed that all OH pefer shade but likes AM sun. The site I have prepared since last fall allows for 4 hrs of late AM sun in the summer ... 'hope she does ok. Tag does not say anything about Winter protection ... would appreciate thoughts.

Thank you -
Ditas

Hi again -

Marc and Mycitygarden - since you both wish for 4x5 bush in Z-5 Alice OH might work but I have no experience - the flowers according to tag will come Jun-Jul and 4-12" clusters. I was originally looking for Pee Wee but wasn't comfortable ordering online, so I just waited. This 3.75 pot was grown by BJ's Garden Path for Earl May garden center.

Mary - sorry for addressing you 'goswimmin' ... y'must be a swimmer!
ditas

Ditas and other, not in order to rain on your parade, but rather in order to inject some dose of reality in the celebration, I'd like to mention a few things,
-first, Alice is a fairly large shrub up to 8-10x8-10', though in z5 it probably will never attain such size due to winter diebacks,
-second, because of diebacks you probably never will see it flowering since it blooms on old wood,
-third, winterizing it similar to macrophillas by using Hayseed's method would be impractical if not impossible, IMO. Therefore, you'd be better off by using PeeWee or Sike's Dwarf which will be realy on a dwarf size in your climate.
At -10F they all will die to the ground no matter what unless super heavily mulched and burlaped.

In any event, plan to use it as rather bold foliage plant than a flowering plant and find a planting site accordinghly.
P.S. For the reference, in my 6b they bloom maybe 2 out of 4 years being unprotected. In winter of 2004 all three died to the ground and only one fully recovered since then.

Hi Ego45 (is it George?) - Many thanks for the prompt response - it looks like I will have another H to dress up for Winter, as I did quite successfully with my old Nikko!!! Many thanks to Hayseed's tutorial on Overwintering the old gal is loaded with blooms and cluster buds!

I just came back up from sinking big Alice in the site I had saved for an OH since last Fall - the room I have will be able to accomodate Alice's needs should she grow to her expected max ht. I guess in her youth winterizing - Hayseed's method won't be too hard. Now that most of old Nikko's old wood survived with a bit of effort and patience ... we'll see.

How about light exposure ... will a few hours of AM sun do? Now that the trees around are fully leafed out, that's all the area gets - the Lincoln Lilac I had there suffered from lack of sun the reason I thought OH will work out.

Again thanks for your response ... 'consider myself warned!
ditas

Good morning Marc, Mary, Mycitygarden - I bookmarked a site called "Hydrangeas! Hydrangeas!" last year as I searched for more info on this lovely bug that bit me. I visited the site last night to learn more about the Alice OH that I just planted ... I thought you might find this site quite helpful too, as Judith King, the creator of the site is very generous in sharing with new or even the seasoned enthusiasts her wealth of info on these beautiful garden species.

I'm sure you'll find her well written, informative site with loads of photos enjoyable to visit! Don't you agree, Ego45?

ditas

Ditas - I have H.querc. 'Snow Queen.' It is planted at the NE corner of my house. I have never had to provide winter protection for it & it blooms fine (assuming, of course that it does not get broken by children & tree trimmers). I don't know that 'Alice' is less hardy. You should try to leave your shrub uncovered to determine whether it needs winter protection in your garden. Mine has survived temps down to -12 & bloomed wonderfully after.

Hi Entling - ' so glad to hear from you again after a spell and good to hear of your daring not to protect you Snow Qween OH - did she die back to the ground & how large does she get after bouncing back up?

Do I remember right that you might also have H Petiolaris, just curious of your experience?

Thanks again,
Ditas

I have 4 of the most beautiful Alice OH. They're sheltered, receive full morning sun and in 3 or 4 yrs have grown to about 5 feet. I'm in Chicago-- not noted for its warm winters. I have taken good advice and not even touched the old wood.

Hi Michimo - Thank you so much for your encouraging note - I feel so much better knowing that Alice's rate of growth is not to be too concerned over.

I'm curious, can you explain ... "I have taken good advice and not even touched the old wood." ? Since we're both in z5 where blizzards do visit now and then, I'd like to follow your footsteps ... my Alice is in a sheltered spot but will only receive 3-4 hrs of AM sun.

Will appreciate your advice.
Ditas

Ditas - My 'Snow Queen' does not die back to the ground. It did have 1 dead stem end, but 1/2 of the plant got broken off by tree trimmers. Here's photo of it this year:

The oakleaf you might want to take a look at is "Vaughn's Lillie", a smaller sized OH, perhaps 3 - 4 1/2 feet tall by Monrovia. I was lucky enough to find one at the end of the season last year. Fall foliage color is extraordinary! This plant is perhaps only 2 feet tall with seven blooms showing, a new bud forming at the top, and three blooms have already been cut from the plant. It may be a small size, but it is a giant in blooming. I can't imaging what it will do when it is an "adult". It has been blooming for weeks and weeks and weeks! The blooms are huge and full but the small plant holds them very well without laying on the ground. I love all OH, but this one is definitely my favorite. Good luck with your search for the perfect OH for you.

{{gwi:1008641}}

Forgot to attach the close up of the blooms:

{{gwi:1008642}}

Extraordinary!!!...The bloom looks more like a macrophylla than an Oakleaf. I have read that it's a (the only) reblooming Oakleaf. Need to find this one!!....yg

Many thanks for sharing your photos ... amazing Mohicansong! What kind of sun exposure does she get and what Winter protection have you given her - that is, if you are in a similar zone? Are some of VL OH leaves already turning or are they just how the young leaves colors are ... beautiful! ?

Entling - I'm kind of partial to the loose panicle clusters just as I find Lacecaps quite lovely - the leaves of your SQ OH look more gentler green and smoother than my recently purchased Alice OH - for one named Alice, she has sort of manly looking large leaves and a bit hairy too ... I hope her blossoms would justify her name!

I think I'd be too chicken to let her go without at least a thin jacket over winter - tho she's fairly protected where I planted her - just a bit concerned about the short sun exposure she gets.

Thanks again to both of you for sharing your beautiful photos!
Ditas

Hi it's me again - I just remembered book marking a Vaughn's Lillie thread earlier and remembered the 3 of us posting there ... Mohicansong - you do have other OHs, how are all of them doing?

Ditas

Yes, I remember our chat in the other thread and many of you may remember that I bought this Vaughn's Lillie at the end of the season, all cut back except for just a few beautifully colored leaves. I decided it was so late in the year not to set it out but to place it inside a small outside building, not heated in anyway, but would certainly help protect from direct frost and freeze. Now that it is planted, I will definitely cover during winter to hopefully get all these beautiful blooms next year. Our winters are not too bad usually.

Anyway, the sun exposure is lots of morning sun; from lunch to about four(shaded by the fence)it gets indirect bright hot sun; then from four to maybe five or so, more direct sun again. It is in a hot location, but I don't think it would be doing as well there if I weren't watering that area heavily every few days because of some other plants close by. The color of the leaves on this young plant look more pale in this morning sun than they really are. The close up photo of the bloom shows more true leaf color. The leaves are more delicate and smaller than my other OH. The Alices and Snow Queens I have (all blooming well) both have larger and more coarse type leaves. Though both have pretty fall color, they don't compare to this little girl. I think the color on some of the leaves is just a normal thing for this OH, or perhaps it is all the sun it is getting. She seems to be really happy in this spot. I just could not believe all the blooms on such a young plant. It is quite exciting to see, and I definitely will have more of these. My next OH will be a Harmony, hopefully before the end of the Summer.

Wow, thanks to all of you for giving your thoughts and ideas and experiences. I was sold on Snowqueen, but now that I have seen that picture of Vaughn's Lillie I don't think I can bypass it... who am I kidding, I will get both, I will find a good spot for both of them. Thanks again for your ideas and experiences.

Marc

I saw this article about Oakleaf Hydrangeas and it seemed like a good little introduction to the plant and its native habitat.

This is going to be a most fabulous flowering of the Oakleaf Hydrangeas around here this year. Like the best in the last ten years at least, maybe longer. Basically, without exaggerating too much, there was no die back on any of the big ones and they're just covered with flowers all the way to the tip top.

I work with a Snowflake that is six feet by six feet and it is just covered. I have to check it out every day just to be sure.

Hay

Agree, this should be a banner year for quersifolias in my town. I see a lot of never/hardly bloomed plants full of buds right now.
My Little Honey overwintered perfectly and gaining in a size by the day. Forget about blooming for that one, it's a foliage plant!

Hi - My Alice too has grown wonderfully with lots of Astilbe/plume looking buds this 2nd season!!!

I do have some ??? - we are getting pommelled by intermittent rain as well as wind storms, even tornado threats, these past weeks, all my beds are starting to get so boggy - realizing Quercifolia's aversion to wet feet ... how quickly do they show root-rot symptoms? Ma Nature is kind enough to allow a sunny day in between - wonder if those would be enough to dry up my Querci's toes?