Hi jbranch, I got a sikes dwarf oakleaf hydrangea this year from Meyer's nursery, and Collier's nursery had lots of PeeWee and other kinds that looked good, and their plants are always in good shape. I also live in Hoover close to aldridge, and you are welcome to to take cuttings of any of the hydrangeas (or any other stuff I have!) I have Snow flake and sikes dwarf and plain old Oakleafs.. I have and have cuttings rooted of: H. serrata "Fuji Waterfall", 'Blue billow", "Preziosa", and "endless summer" mophead type. I like to trade and give divisions to nice people right around here locally, and still always have a list of stuff for our swaps. Sharing stuff is the way to go, especially cost-wise. todd

Interesting how you placed the blue foliage of the fothergilla between the gold variegated leaves and the purple-leaf sandcherry. I have no personal experience with fothergilla (or sadly, 'Golden Shadows) but 'Blue Shadow' is a very appealing looking plant. Oakleaf and dwarf fothergilla are both slow growing, but the oakleafs are possibly showier in flower. SD is supposedly showier than PW gardengal? My newly planted 'Pee Wee' oakleafs held their old, purplish foliage all winter long; I did not find that appealing. Clethra are slow to leaf out, I would personally keep that one as a specimen. It has great yellow fall foliage color. 'Rozanne' geraniums are what comes to my mind for the purple/blue flowered perennial. I was warned that the ones I planted in late summer may not make it, but I have several spring-planted plants that are huge, so get these in the ground early!

I have several H.q.'Sikes Dwarf' or 'Sykes Dwarf' that I purchased from a reputable propagation nursery a few years ago. Unless I check the label on each plant, am unable to distinguish them from some other cultivars of Oakleaf's, as they are about the same height, 5-6 ft. As luis mentioned, growing season, soil, light, etc. may effect the ultimate height and size of the "Dwarfs". Have had no experience with H.q.'PeeWee" and have never observed them growing in my area. In this area, Oakleaf's perform best when planted in full sun or several(6+) hours of afternoon sun exposure. Soil drainage is very important. I have heavy clay, which retains moisture, so I try to plant them on a slope or a mound of soil and mulch is only provided during extended periods of drought. They also appreciate an annual application of Dolomitic Lime if the soil is very acidic. They do best in Circumneutral (pH7.0) to slightly alkaline soil. In the absence of rainfall, water weekly for the first couple of years, until the roots become established, after that, they are fairly drought tolerant. My old, established plants needed watering only twice during a severe drought last year and that included one period of 7 consecutive weeks in early summer, when not a drop of rain fell. Rb

Yes it is Russian Sage. I have 3 clumps of it around the yard. Love the foliage, smell, hardiness and how long they bloom for. Great, cheap, and easy to find perennial. Luckily early in my gardening career I knew never to put a tree or shrub in the ground root bound. Perennials I have been more relaxed on being rootbound. Especially with daylilies, they seem not to care much and can be horribly rootbound. I have a neighbor who put a nice size Crabapple root bound in the ground. It struggled for a few years and eventually started to dieback/decline. When he dug it up the root ball looked freshly pulled out of a pot still. He got to learn the hard way. Makes a lot of sense why small containers do well. I think quart was the word I was looking for...lol...I know enough about many things just enough to be dangerous...lol. It did cross my mind as I was typing before maybe this could be a regular Oakleaf. I sure hope not, I have no room for a monster Oakfleaf and is the only one I have in my yard. Although the two BB's I purchased with it were exactly what they were supposed to be. "So fingers crossed" The first Season the supposed Sike's Dwarf got a little sun burned and didnt do much. Even though I made it a little tent for it to get thru summer. 2nd year it looked very healthy and tripled in size showing me a single bloom. This year it just exploded even with our goofy weather! Guess time will tell and maybe a friend or family member might get a nice Oakleaf someday sooner than later. This spot receives full sun from noon to almost sunset. I know many people advise more shade for Oakleafs, but at a local garden they had them in a similar light conditions. They do great but are huge oakleafs. My yard is mostly full sun and shadier spots are reserved for Macs/Bigleafs...lol...I often ignore tags and go off similar plants in my area in the ground, how they are doing in a particular situation. Oakleafs were an acquired taste for me. For years they had them at my fathers place of work and they wouldnt bloom. The way they did the landscape it made me think they were just letting some Oak seedlings grow and forgot to pull them. The were very weak growing/scraggly looking things getting only AM sun. I think whatever strain they picked was a bad one or they really hated their location. After seeing them full and healthy in bloom at public gardens they grew on me. In my area they are far and few between. I dont think there is a single one in my sisters, parents or my neighborhood. If this one turns out to be a big Oakleaf it will be replaced with another dwarf style one. I really enjoy them now and want one in my landscape!