I've purchased from hydrangeaselect.com I've ordered a couple times and have been nothing but pleased with what I've ordered, and service is great (both shipping and calling on the phone asking questions). I've ordered Annabelle through him, and they are indeed the real Annabelle and are doing beautifully in my yard.

Unfortunately, the website is being remodeled right now, but you can probably phone over there and get something ordered. They're in New York - Long Island, if I recall correctly, so just search for the phone #.

I have had good results with Nantucker Hydrangea dot com. Usually hey have a huge selection and good quality and shipping. Ask for Frank, Cheers, JK

Ditto Mxk3...

Nantucket Hydrangea is good but only sells cuttings on line (I think). Hydrangea Select and Wilkerson Mills have both been good to me, but I get more lush, bigger, better, stronger plants from Hydrangea Select. (pricey, but at least you do get what you pay for)....yg

Yellowgirl, Nantucket does have 1 and 2 gallon plants. Ciao, JK

JK, 1G Nantucket plants are just rooted cuttings and 2G are 1y.o. plants.
That's based on observation of just 1(one) order received by my friend.
Is that a standard practice or not I have no clue.

Why purchase on line when all the nicer nurseries around, at least in my area, all STILL HAVE ANNABELLES, most in bloom. I was in at least three this past week with lovely huge annabelles at a good price. Since you don't have a nursery really close, perhaps it would be worth a drive of 30 min, 45 min or even an hour to get a really great looking large annabelle right now, instead of a barely rooted tiny plant. For close to the same price, you could drive and buy one. Just look up nurseries in the yellow pages on net and call them to see what they still have. Try to do it within the next week before everything is gone. It is so much better to see annabelle in bloom when you buy. GOOD LUCK!

Agree with Stillwelljill....It should go without saying that 'if it is possible' to buy locally, that is always your best bet before resorting to on-line nurseries. Especially with Annabelles.....yg

OK, this is what I decided to purchase. I have a 4 ft deep by 15 ft wide area that is between the house(limestone) and a limestone/flagstone patio. I purchased 3 Annabelle's from Hydrangea Select for this area. I was torn between buying 3 or 4 because I want them to grow together as a hedge like look. I also thought about a "colored" hydrangea, but I knew with our alkaline soil and being surronded by limestone on all sides that I have no change for blue blooms. This is also in a very natural, wooded area of our home so I thought Annabelle would be my best choice. I am a little worried about it looking bare in the winter months, but it can not be seen in the winter time unless you are out on that patio. I don't think anyone will be there in the winter time. It is not visible from the street.

I hope I made a good choice. Would you have put 3 or 4 Annabelle's there?

3 is more than enough for the 15'.
Here you see two Annabelles covering 10-12' space between two oaks

Another group that origially (4 years ago) was consist of two plants planted about 7' apart, but all spring cuttings for years were planted in between. Now I'm sure it's at least 13-15' wide.

So, don't prune it in a fall, wait till spring and plant all the cuttings in between your plants.
Good luck.

stillwelljill... Where did you see the Annabelles? Please name the nursery and city and state. I see none in SE Alabama.
Thanks
Carol

Oh my goodness, George, your Annabelles are absolutely stunning! Also, I think that you have answered my question on spacing in another thread... thank you!

Amac, I also searched high and low for Annabelles locally too. The thing is, many nurseries here carry them, but only one or two have decent ones. Some were just not blooming at all even though they are in 5 gallon pots (!), and then some just look very weedy and pathetic... so I went to quite a few local nurseries before I found THE one for me! In fact, it's the same place where I got my Annabelle last year. I guess it's worth all the travel and gas!

Good luck with your search.

Ego45,

Thanks so much for your advice and gorgeous photos of your gardens! This might be a dumb question, but do I just cut off a branch and stick it in the ground? Or, do I take cuttings and follow the propogation methods that I have seen so many times on this forum before? I am new to hydrangeas so I read here a lot so I can learn as much as I can. You are a huge help! Thanks again!

Carol, I bought a couple of gallon size limelights and a huge Annabelle (perhaps 2-3 gal) at THE BARN Nursery in Chattanooga, TN. four days ago. Their hydrangeas have been 30% off for several weeks now. Anyway they had maybe 15 Annabelles (all very large and all but two of them in wonderful bloom - and of course the limelights were in gorgeous bloom as well). I also saw some great looking 1 gal (but great sized plants) Annabelles at ROSEWOOD Nursery in Dalton GA. last week (these were around $19). There were maybe 10-12 of them (although only a couple of them were in bloom). I bought two not in bloom Annabelles at Rosewood last year that were great looking plants just like the ones they have right now that aren't in bloom. The ones I bought have been healthy big blooming plants this summer. I have been more than pleased with the Rosewood non bloomers bought last year. I saw a few small Annabelles somewhere else about a week ago, but right now I can't remember where. If it comes to me, I'll post that for you as well.

"...do I just cut off a branch and stick it in the ground? "

Yes, exactly correct. At least one, preferably two pairs of buds should be in and one pair is above the ground. When doind cutting make sure you leave at least two pair of buds on each stem, meaning do not prune to the stub.
Your mail-order hydrangeas may not produce enough of new growth/branches this year, so for the Spring #1 (2008) you may not have much to prune, but next year some longer branches could produce multiple cuttings from the same stem. It's not a rocket science, you'll see it and understand it. Just use a common sense and a Hydrangea forum common wisdom :-))
Good luck.

Ego45,

Thank you so much! I have learned so much from you already! I think I have become an addict this year. We just built a new house and the possiblities are endless..... Now, I am a little worried because you said not to prune down too far, because I just hacked my gorgeous Glowing Embers (about 15 stems) at random for a party we had last weekend. I did not pay any attention to where I was cutting. I just sort of cut close to the bottom-looking for a long stem for our centerpiece!

Just in the last month, I have bought 4 Glowing Embers, 3 Lanarth White and the 4 new Annabelle's that I have just ordered. All of these are still in pots. I plan to plant them this fall.

The landscapers planted in the ground 4 endless summers. I am going to be patient with them, because so far-I am not that impressed. I love the darker leaves of the Glowing Embers and the Lanarth White.

In our last house, I planted 3 Dooleys, which bloomed beautifully, and I never did a thing to them. I think that I'm so "in to" the hydrangeas now, that I am over tending or overthinking it all. But, I'm having a blast reading all the posts!

Thank you again for your thoughtful replys!

Thank you stillwelljill. You are a wealth of information. I will call them today.
Carol

Just wondering Carol if there were any annabelles available or were they all sold by the time you called? This time of year with some places offering discounts, they go really FAST.