I will tell you about the ones I have. I love them all.
Fothergilla 'Blue Shadow' has dull, glaucous blue-grey leaves that color orange, for me, in Fall. The plant is now almost 5 feet tall. I really like blue-leaved plants.
F.'Mt. Airey' has normal green leaves and also bloomed beautifully and is about the same height. Color varies from year to year but, this year my one that gets a lot of Sun was almost flourescent scarlet. Would be a magnificent hedge.
Itea 'Henry's Garnet' has remained under 3 feet tall, for me, and never colored nicely. The ones at a local nursery were a fantastic wine color. The leaves on mine just get a mess of spots. The plant has begun to spread by suckering, which I like. 'Little Henry' has not colored up nicely, either. It is only a foot or two tall, for me. Both bloomed nicely. I just added a little 'Saturnalia' in Fall, because it is supposed to color up more clearly. Today, Dec. 7, the leaves are still green. Almost all came from Forest Farm and I have a great respect for them.

For me, Itea pouted for a long time. I eventually cut down and moved on with some other plants. Suddenly, the Itea came back with a vengeance and has since looked pretty good. It is "Henry's Garnet." I see other decent plantings of Itea around town, but often it is chlorotic. I have a feeling Itea likes soil a little more acidic than our region can deliver. A really healthy planting can be an impressive sight. Unfortunately, around here non-impressive plantings tends to be more common.

Fothergilla, on the other hand, has performed well for me in widely diverse planting sites--sun, shade, moist, dry, acidic to slightly alkaline. Rock steady. "Blue Mist," however, has a reputation for being difficult, but I've never tried it. "Blue Shadow" is supposed to combine blue foliage with a tough constitution. I keep looking, but I haven't found that cultivar locally available just yet.

Scott

Thanks for your help!

Our soil is acidic. The area I'll be planting is sandy loam over blue marl clay. I hauled in a few tractor buckets of better soil from the top of the property so I hope that will help.

I've seen 'Henry Garnet' and 'Merlot' (in pots) The leaf colors on Merlot were variable with bright yellows, oranges and reds. Merlot is reportedly smaller - about 3' - while Henry Garnet is said to reach 5'. Are the plants similar enough in appearance that I could use more than one type in a hedge? Maybe Henry Garnet at one end of the bed, morphing into Merlot? Or would the differences in height, etc look odd?

It sounds like F. Mt Airy is beautiful. I may use one of the blue leaved varieties in a different location where consistency is less important. I wanted to have more color the area near the house - at present, we just have the river birches and Indian hawthorns (green meatballs). It's uninteresting but the weather is often harsh near the Bay - that limits plant selections.

Thanks again!

My F. 'Mt. Airys' turn a bright combination of orange and gold with a small amount of red. They are about the last thing to turn color and retain leaves in my autumn garden, so in a year with a heavy early freeze I may not get any color, but that shouldn't be a problem for you. 'Mt Airy' is a nice shrub the rest of the year with pretty, unusual spring flowers and healthy summer foliage. Some are in a windy area behind my house which is in the middle of a quite large field along a river which channels the wind. It still grows well with little care other than the initial bed prep and periodic renewal of the mulch. I also have several planted in a woodland bed with beeches, oaks, white pines, and hemlocks. They have a light mulch and were watered the first year, but have had no additional care. They also have a fair amount of wind, but are doing just fine. I have grown one other fothergilla (don't remember what kind) that was done in by voles its first winter.

I had Itea 'Little Henry' for about three years, but eventually shovel pruned it since it looked a little worse each year. It may not be hardy enough where I live, though along the seacoast where it's a bit warmer, I've seen several beds of 'Henry's Garnet.' It is striking in the fall, but I don't think the form and non-fall foliage are as nice as the Fothergilla, and the flowers don't seem as interesting either.

Thanks for the detailed answers. In my area, 'Henry Garnet' and 'Little Henry' are held in high regard and are easy to find. Fothergilla is more difficult to find locally.

I've read that F. gardenii is fragrant. Since this is an entry bed, fragrance is an important factor. In your collective experience, is there a difference in fragrance between the Fothergilla varieties? Are most about 5' at maturity?

Many thanks,
Pam
I'll go with FF - F. Mt Airy for this bed.