Laurie,

Hydrangeas of all kinds go dormant in winter and probably wouldn't be the most appropriate plant to take such a place of presidence by the front door among your other formal evergreens. Just my opinion, but I consider most hydrangeas to be rather "informal" plants better savored in the back yard, most particularly in climates where other plants stay green year round......yg

Agree with YG.
While some hydrangeas, paniculata grown as a tree, for example, have some sort of winter interest, they are not suitable for such prominent position.
Oakleaf in particular look outright ugly in a winter, IMO, please forgive me all oakleaf lovers :-))
Please, reconsider!
Jap. maple perharps if you don't want evergreen?

I wasn't really sure if the Oakleaf hydrangea lost it's leaves during the winter or not. I guess I was thinking that maybe it didn't since I read that the leaves change colors in the cooler months.

ego45 - You're the 3rd person that has mentioned putting a Japanese maple there. I think if I decide to go that route, I need some low growing plants around to really make that corner stand out. I just like the idea of something with white flowers to brighten that corner. I'm disappointed that the oakleaf may not work there afterall, but I'm glad I asked.

Laurie

Laurie, you know better what look you want to have there,
but instead of 'low growing plants around to really make that corner stand out' I rather see something tall and narrow.
Acer palmatum var.dissectum 'Tamukeyama' (high graft) will perfectly fits there, IMO. And it could take TX heat!
For the more traditional look, Juniperus virginiana 'Skyrocket' will do the job as well.
Good luck.

ego45 - I looked up Tamukeyama and it sounds perfect for my climate. What do you mean by high graft?

I'm going to take your suggestion and put the Oakleaf Hydrangea in the backyard. On the top level, in the corner of the yard is where I want to put it. In this picture, there's an Annabelle there, but we had an unusual amount of rain and flooding this year, so I lost her. This spot can handle a bigger variety than I would have put in the front. I think I read that Snowflake blooms longer than most, so that sounds good. Vaughn's Lillie and Harmony sound like they have blooms that really stand out.

Laurie

Laurie, about 'high graft' and 'low graft' you could read in a link below.
In a simple words, LG= mounding and weeping form, while HG= upright trunk and pendulous branches.

Your designated spot would of sound absolutely perfect to me if you wouldn't mention demise of Annabelle there.
I hardly could imagine the magnitude of disaster to happen to kill such undemanding plant as Annabelle, so if drainage is even a slight concern for that spot, any oakleaf less likely will be happy there as they could die in an eyeblink if drainage is not to their liking.
As cultivar names go, if 'Snowflake' is available I'd grab it with no hesitance.

Here is a link that might be useful: Paghat's garden

Actually, the spot where Anabelle was, is the least likely spot in our yard to have a drainage problem because it's the highest spot in our yard. We recently had a landscaper out and he's the one that mentioned the water had killed it. We have Penny Mac in the exact spot on the other end of the yard and it's just fine. The people behind us have a pool, which I'm sure overflowed during the rains. I'm thinking that it could have been the chemicals from the pool that hurt it. Thanks for the link!

Laurie