As previously mentioned, the cultivar 'Helen Von Stein' (also known as 'Big Ears') rarely flowers and has no issues with humidity. I planted a small start in a tiny garden (around 4' by 6') back in 2001. Since then, it has flowered once, never been divided, has increased but not excessively (my dianthus has spread much more agressively) and has never needed or received any special care. I am finally going to dig some up this fall to cut it back a bit. I find it especially lovely with blue-purple flowered plants. Here it is in May 2005: And here is the same garden in May 2011. You can see that the plant has grown, but not to any crazy extent. Here is a close up of the plant from 2011: The garden contains amended clay. Bottom line is, as with many plants, many factors go into whether it's going to be well behaved or not.

If it doesnt look like it has been repotted to send to you then i wouldnt blame the size of the pot (as it was growing in it already and not much will change that quickly), Repotting, may be good or bad!, i would repot it, but repotting will stress it a bit more than it is already, not repotting you may not find the problem till it dies, so i would repot in a known good drainage compost mix Check theres holes in the side at the bottom of that pot, the small square pots dont generaly have holes in the side at the bottom to let air in/water out Check the soil temperature is warm enough?, ive started using dog / cat bed warmers for smaller plants, off ebay for about 10 pounds if its not warm the plant will wilt as the leaves can not cool themselves (even if the leaves seem cold) as the roots arent working well enough , the water in the soil wont go and they will become waterlogged Are you sure its not too wet, it looks too wet

George and Ostrich, Thanks so much for responding! The afternoon shade is more a factor of movement of the sun over the house itself (compounded by a DEEP Dutch Colonial overhang). I am still a bit unsure what to expect from LL in terms of growth habit, but it sounds as if I should give it room to sprawl a bit, possibly drooping on the ground to some degree (though the plant I bought, which was large -- probably 2.5-3 feet tall already -- seems entirely upright in habit so far.) It has buds but hasn't yet bloomed so I suppose that may change. It's a bit of a gamble ... but was priced at the local farm market at a price point that was absolutely IMPOSSIBLE to pass up!! (Ditto for Quick Fire, which was just sitting there all alone on a plant bench at White Flower Farm, which was having a 30 percent off sale this weekend ... :) For what it's worth, I have a Blue Billow in the same bed as Little Lamb, same light conditions, and it has done just beautifully so I'm hopeful LL will be equally happy. It is replacing a fairly unattractive boxwood and a large spirea, both installed by the previous owners, so I don't see how it can fail to be an improvement... And it sounds as if QF will be fine in more sun by the patio (though in reality, it will get a bit of shade in the very early morning before the sun gets high enough to clear the nearby woods, and may benefit, as George notes, from the fact that this shade, such as it is, develops as the nearby woods leafs out -- so QF will have nothing but sun in the early spring). It is in bloom and positively sparkles! Both plants have plenty of room to grow up and out and I am looking forward to watching them do so. Blue Billow and another unidentified blue laceap are the sum total of my previous experience with hydrangeas -- this will be fun! (Question: Do I need to do anything special for winter protection? I didn't for the Blue Billow, and it's done beautifully for two years (we moved it from my mom's garden in Washington, DC), but I've just read some threads that imply these plants need wrapping or other winter protection ("flatbox"?) Do they? I THINK I'm technically in zone 6 these days but would be on the 5-6 border I suspect.)

I'd see you and raise that bet....These plants were not invented, they were DISCOVERED...and many times by accident or coincidence. I think it's the large scale marketing hype that is new, not the plants. If Dirr had met Penny McHenry a little sooner, who knows, we may have never known a plant called ES. Instead, all of the hype (and therefore all of the ES posts) might well have been about H.Macro PennyMac. Same is true of Decatur Blue or David Ramsey, or this "new" one Sadie Ray, and on and on. I have "mystery no name" hydrangeas, purchased at Lowes for $7.00 each and they behave much like ES in that they all bloom and rebloom from April to December unlike any other hydrangeas I own. Of course, living in Florida I can't vouch for their cold hardiness but...a rose by any other name?......yg