Sandy, could it be Potomac Pride? I wanted to say how nice it is to have someone close to share a love of hostas with. Don't think it's one sided either. I've received many priceless gifts from Faye and her hubby. I'll post pictures as soon as I can get myself organized. I'm sort of paying the piper these days. Plants are maturing in spite of me. My stubborness at refusing to leave any space between plants is having to be dealt with. Carolina Blue, posted many times at the left of my entrance was eating up the other plants. It had to be moved. Now the others can breathe at least for a little while. I'm happy with the results and happy to share once I've dug some monster up.

Thank you all for the beautiful pix ! The Halcyon Family Peninsula is just fantastic Kines , the most beautiful hosta family ever ! I keep clicking back for another peek! I feel the shimmy shimmy shakes ...as I add them all to my must have list!! Well friends thanks for sharing a healthy addiction, I going to start looking for all the sibs for June & FA tomorrow, can't stand to see them so lonely ;). Are most readily available? Any ideas where would be best to look on mail order? Thanks again -Dot

H. quercifolia is somewhat challenging plant for z5. The most of the problems will occur in a first few years. Once established it will be relatively trouble free plant, though not a reliable bloomer. After all it's a z7-8 (NC, GA) native plant. First, it need 2-3 years in ground to become fully established. Being technically root hardy to z5 it still need very thick layer of mulch and burlap wraping in a first couple of winters. Spring/early summer planting is highly recommended for z5-6. Second, of all hydrangeas, young oakleaves are the most succeptible to root rot while still can't stand drought. Therefore, one have to find PROPER watering regimen to satisfy this requirement. Again, thick layer of mulch could be handy. Third, it blooms on old wood and you are back to square one for winter protection as you would be with the most of macrophyllas. Winter protection ala 'hayseedman' for quercifolias will be not only questionable due to the rangy pattern of growth, but most likely will be impossible for the most of them due to their sizes, assuming they'll not die back every other year. 'Alice' in particular, is one of the largest h.q. and could easily reach 8x8' in just 3 years and 12x12' in 5 years if no dieback. IMO, dwarf cultivars, such as Pee Wee or Sike's Dwarf (both look identical to me anyway) are the only quercifolias that could be/should be attempted to grow in solid z5 on condition that grower is determined and will put reasonable effort to protect them. Fourth, indeed, fall foliage of oakleaves is a site to behold. However, in order to develop fall color it should be grown in a considerable sun, say 3-4 hours, and here you'll have another contradiction. Location with 3-4 hours of tentatively morning sun in a summer most likely will become a 6-8-10 hours of sun in a winter and such exposure most definitely will dry flower buds or even the whole branches by the spring, thus you'll have a huge non-blooming plant in a best case scenario. Sorry for the doom and gloom, but that is how I see it. Re: 'Blue Billow'. It wasn't me who touted it, but Hayseedman reported that it blooms RELIABLY for him in z6 WITHOUT any protection. In my z6b garden I don't protect any hydrangeas except trying to chose location wisely, and indeed B.Billow bloomed for me the last three years on a row, including very cold winter of 2003/04.

Jamie, the leaf centers of Miss Tokyo get a darker green as the season goes on. Sunnywood, Miss Tokyo is, apparently, considered a large, at least from Green Mountain Hosta Nursery, the place where I bought it. They have it listed as eventually being 30" tall. It grows pretty slowly, but certainly starts to get nice after a few seasons in the garden. I bought it in 2013.