I have 'Mt.Airy' for 3 years and I like it more and more every year.
It suckers little bid, but yet not to the point that issue should be addressed. It stays relatively compact at 4'tall x 3'wide, blooms for 3-4 weeks in late April-May, sometimes when almost leafless, sometimes when fully leafout.
Fall color is very attractive, but it has to be planted in at least very bright open shade to produce red, purple, orange and yellow riot of colors in late October.
In morning sun only you may not have this full effect.
Need moist acidic soil, otherwise is not fussy.
{{gwi:280099}}

Sure glad you had the time to post today ego. :-)
LOVE the photo of your Fothergilla! It is very pretty. I do find those little thick short bottlebrush blooms so cute. Nice effect and then to get fall color too is really great. I am also wanting to add an Itea virginiana 'Henry's Garnet', which I thought they might go well together with a variegated shrub with them, maybe? I have dry, near a maple tree, clay soil with a 6.4ph. I would be using soaker hoses. As I mentioned in another post.

Thanks for the photo!
:-)

Itea would need a lot of water (to prosper) and a lot of sun (to be a Garnet).

I have Fothergilla gardenii and love it.

{{gwi:150351}}

Mine has grown much larger than the 3-4' you will find referenced in most places. It's probably more like 5' but not very wide. I do have some other cultivars that are supposed to be smaller and so far have stayed that way...'Suzanne' maybe...I'll have to look up the exact names. You can't go wrong with this shrub...grows in the shade, neat flowers in the spring and great fall color.

Sue

I have fothergilla Mt. Airy and I like it a lot. I got it in 2001 and it is a little over 4 feet tall and almost 4 feet wide and hasn't needed any pruning. I haven't noticed it suckering. Others have posted nice photos of the flowers, and they also have a strong honey fragrance. The fall coloring is gorgeous. This is a photo from last November. (My fothergilla is in almost full sun.)

{{gwi:280103}}

Juliet

Thanks ego for the itea information. :-)

Sue, lovely photo. Very colorful and nice composition. Looks like spring has sprung. Is your Fothergilla in a fair amount of shade there, does it get direct sun? Do you think your fall color is good even in the shade? Thanks for sharing your photo, Sue. I always enjoy photos of your yard. You do a great job. :-)

Juliet, great shot of your shrub! Thanks for showing me what they look like in the fall. Very nice coloring and the form and foliage of the shrub is very attractive. Looks like you have a grass growing with it?

Thanks for all your help and photos. Seems like Mt Airy is a great cultivar and happy to add it to my list. :-)

"blue mist" is a nice cultivar

I just looked that up and it is a nice small cultivar, 3ft x 3ft. I wonder why they call it blue mist though, the flowers are still white? Thanks for pointing me to that one, pomme. :-)

'Blue Mist' is named for the bluish foliage. Mine is currently sited poorly but once I find the right spot, I have high hopes.

Sue

I also have Mt Airy, which I planted 3 seasons ago as a liner size. They are now about 2 feet high and full, and some are starting to sucker. They are in afternoon sun and are some of my last plants to color in the fall, so really extend my season. The spring flowers are a bonus and the bees love them. I planted another one prior to the Mt. Airy, maybe a regular F. major, but it died the first winter, maybe due to voles eating the roots, so I can't really compare it to the others.

I have both the gardenii and the Mt. Airy. The gardenii is in its second year--2' by 2'--and has not suckered yet. I liked the gardenii so much that I bought the Mt. Airy this year and placed within 20' of the gardenii. They both bloomed nicely. The gardenii fliage is just beginning to change while the Mt. Airy is still green. They are both in sun from about 10 am on.

My Blue Mist has been very well behaved, no suckering, slow growth, for several years. Nice bluish foliage and blooms in a fairly shady location. For that reason though, I don't get much fall colour.

Mine are the dwarf Fothergilla, get about 3ft tall at the highest, with thicker width and more flowers every year. I have not noticed any suckering at all on three bushes, over 5 years. I love the flowers. Mine usually start blooming with leaves coming after. Great fall color like shown in the photo of the larger bush. I really like my small Fothergilla. One in mid afternoon full sun, 2 in mid-day full sun, dappled evening sun. All bloom well, have good fall color. 2 in clay, PH of 6. 1 in sandy ground.

I am not that wild about the Henry's Garnet, which we call Sweet Spire. It stays pretty small, does smell nice when flowering. Fall color is very red, though they don't stay on long when colored. I just find it mostly unremarkable, seldom notice it except for smell. Doesn't like being wet or dry. It just keeps disappearing among the other small bushes in planting.

I have a couple 'Mt Airy' and they are only about 3-4' tall and 3' wide after 5 years or so. The one in front of the Amsonia is in more sun and colors up earlier and the one behind the Amsonia in more shade colors up later. This photo is from November 4th last year:

{{gwi:192695}}

I like my Itea 'Henry's Garnet' also. For me it is in mostly full sun, is in unamended soil that is neither dry nor wet, and gets no supplemental water from me. The leaves turn burgundy early and last until at least end of November-it is the last deciduous shrub in my yard to lose it's leaves. Here are photos from 2 years ago:

{{gwi:280106}}

{{gwi:280108}}

Monique, your pictures are always awesome, but the last one is definitely 'the picture that sells'!
Thank you for sharing.

Monique, beautiful pictures. They inspired me to go to the nursery today and buy Henry's Garnet. It's gorgeous! What is the yellow shrub beside it? Also, is that Daphne blooming in the last picture?? I thought it bloomed in late winter/very early spring??

Daphne in front (last picture) and on a left (second pic) is Daphne transatlantica (formerly D.caucasica) 'Summer Ice'. It blooms heavily in spring and continue to bloom intermittently the whole season till mid-December in my garden.
Let me guess about yellow shrub in background.
Looks like a Clethra. They become screaming yellow in October here and need the same conditions as Iteas.

Oops, sorry Nancy-I haven't been back to this forum until now. Thanks George for IDing everything. Yes, it is Clethra 'Ruby Spice'-dark pink flowers in summer. The Daphne 'Summer Ice' is one of my favorite shrubs due to the length of time with fragrant blooms and the nice variegation.

The larger parts of F. monticola make it more impressive but dwarf fothergilla is mostly what is offered. I like the coloring of 'Blue Mist' both in summer and fall but it's a bit of a wimp.

Thank you all for sharing your favorites. LOVED your photos monique. I think I saw you post a photo with the Henry's Garnet quite awhile ago and that was the first time I thought of getting one. Can't wait to get new shrubs.

I wanted one Fothergilla, but I may have to get more than one. [g]

Hope you found some good fothergillas! My Mt. Airy is especially pretty this year so I wanted to share some photos I took today:

{{gwi:240778}}

and closeup:
{{gwi:280111}}

Juliet

I haven't tried this one yet. Looks like a dwarf fothergilla in the photo (and yes, "winter hazel" is definitely a mistake).

Here is a link that might be useful: Fothergilla major 'Blue Shadow'

I'm down here in Alabama, so different climate, but just wanted to add that my 'Mt. Airy' finally put on a show this Fall after several years of ho-hum color. Fall color has been unusually good here, anyway, and the Mt. Airy did its thing too. It looked downright surreal, almost like a painting!! I had always been disappointed in these after being suckered in by the accolades from Dirr. For some reason, they don't color as well here in Alabama as they do over in Athen, Georgia where Michael Dirr is located.

I have 3 Mt Airy's and the color is quite variable. This one gets morning sun.

{{gwi:280112}}

These two get more sun. Even side by side lots of variability. But I love 'em all! I've had them about 6 years now.

{{gwi:280113}}

excuse the bump... I am having trouble seeing the pictures I posted above consistently. Using new photo hosting website. I just want to try a different URL to see if it is more stable.

{{gwi:280115}}

hmmmm...that didn't work. trying this one.

{{gwi:280116}}

Thank you all for the photos! The colors are quite spectacular this year. All the leaves have dropped off most trees and shrubs in the yard. Roses, Oakleaf Hydrangea and a Viburnum Maresii are the last with leaves still on them.

:-)