I have several varieties, most growing in partial sun. These include:

* Nikko Blue -- 3 that get hot mid-day sun and wilt because of it and 1 that is in most shade and does GREAT -- all of which are about 5 years old now and about 5 feet tall and wide
* Tardiva -- at least 7 feet tall and would be as wide but I pruned to keep in check
* Limelight -- growing in mostly shade/dappled sun so it is about 5 feet tall (4 years old)
* Glowing Embers -- growing in mostly shade/dappled sun, about 2 feet tall (4 years old)
* an oakleaf variety that I can't remeber -- planted last fall but doing well with morning sun
* Ayesha -- kept dying back to the ground and finally bit the dust after four years of trying.

I have noticed that the taller/larger ones in my yard seem to have better draining soil than the shorter ones, especially for the mopheads, though the Tardiva is in a fairly wet spot and loving life. I've been told the Limelight requires more sun to bloom, but mine doesn't seem to mind at all that it is only in dappled sun. It has tons of buds getting ready to bloom soon. The Nikkos that get more of the mid-day sun are nice and big, but flop terribly because of the sun. If I water everyday, then the flopping is less. But the one that is in mostly shade has only flopped once for me and that was during last summers drought.

I have always wanted to plant a climber, but never knew where the best place would be in my yard. I have tons of pines, so that my be an idea!

Hope this helps some.

Oakleaf hydrangea has become one of my favorite shrubs. I planted an 8 gallon 'Alice' in the fall of 2004. It is in a spot that gets no direct sun and has to compete with several large trees for water. It has grown well and had a nice display of flowers this year. It is such a handsome shrub even when not in bloom.

I also have some young 'Blue Bird' and 'Lady in Red' hydrangeas growing in shady spots on the north side of my house.

- Brent

You both have me rethinking more seriously about the limelight and oakleafs. Brent, how deep is your oakleaf? I also have considered a couple of aspera's, I like the look of the velvety leaves, again, I have to be careful not to get too tall and too deep.

Unfortunately, I do not have the largest yard in the world, and I have just begun wandering through nurseries, and making lists. Then at night I do the same on the internet. I need to make a scale drawing off my yard, and plan it out before I end up buying randomly, as I like them all.

sandyinva

I have my Oakleaf in a location that I would call "deep shade" it is shaded by the house in the morning, it might get a stray beam or two through a mature saucer magnolia tree and then the area is shaded by pines and other large trees in the afternoon.

Here is a shot of the garden:

Here is a shot from the May (I don't seem to have a picture handy of the shrub in bloom)

- Brent

Hi again Brent,
Thanks for posting you picture: my area would be about the same. perhaps with a little more light, and if yours blooms, mine would too. I really like the woodsy look of oakleafs, and my space could use some fall color as well. I have not decided where exactly to plant: I need to take down a small cedar tree in between two pines along the back of the fence, and consider that area vs the larger area where I have a couple of cherry trees at the front on the left, with some pines along the fence 20-25 feet back and a small sourwood tree about 10 feet or so from the fence. There is one rhododendrum at the front on the right, and behind them are scattered azaleas (4), and my mariesii, which will be planted somewhere there. There are also some hostas, various ferns, and a few hellebores. I really need to sit down with graph paper and plan out what what I am doing where. I love the limelights, the oakleafs, I also very much like the wild look of aspera villosa. In front of my deck, I would like to replace my box woods with some mopheads.

sandyinva

The previous owners of our home planted (or had planted for them) what I believe to be Oakleaf Hydrangea "snowflake".

The landscape company they hired planted it on the north side of the house, where it gets some, but not a lot, of afternoon sun (no morning, as trees block it). It's in its 2nd year in the ground and is blooming beautifully.

One thing about it -- the large white/cream flowers fade to pinkish rose, which makes it beautiful!

Also, I don't know if deer like them or not, but the deer left them alone in our yard this past winter, preferring to go for other shrubs in our yard.

Thank you everyone, I think I 've allowed myself to be restricted in what I think could be possible in my shady backyard. I would rather do this, plant and watch things grow, than anything else, and I guess I forget that I can always dig things up and re-arrange if necessary.

sandyinva

How much sun and moisture does it require? Mine gets morning sun for a few short hours and that is it. It is in a raised bed next to my shed. Just wondered how it performs.

I also have a variegated lacecap, macrophylla, petiolaris, and an quercifolia "Alice" which actually gets quite a bit of sun and has gotten HUGE with flowers. I LOVE Hydrangeas. I want more if only I had room:)

I have one Oakleaf Hydrangea that I planted two summers ago. It bloomed great this year and has tripled in size since planted. I was not sure whether to cut the stalks back in the winter but didn't and most of them came back out in the spring. There were a few that didn't and after a while of waiting to see if anything sprouted, I cut them back.

I have two blue hydrangeas and one pink. I' don't know the names of any of them. The two blues are on the east side of the house and are planted in a bed close to the house. They get morning sun. The pink one is on the north side of the house and gets morning and early afternoon sun. The two blues look very bushey and green but no blooms. The pink is also very healthy looking but with only a couple of really small blooms. I want the big blooms that I see on everyone elses bushes.

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I've had one of the blue hydranges in several different places in my yard for over 10 years and it still has yet to bloom for me. Maybe one or two tiny blooms but nothing like it should be. As a matter of fact, I dug it up from my neighbor's mother's yard. When she had it, it was full of blooms and mostly in the shade, only getting dappled afternoon sun.

What am I doing wrong? I'd plant lots more because I love the blooms so much but if I can't get them to bloom, I don't need anymore green bushes.

Ann

Ann, are you pruning the mopheads (the blues and the pink)? Pruning at the wrong time of year (spring) will cut off the flower buds. My next-door neighbor does this every year and can't figure out why his bush is nice and compact, but with no flowers!

You might consider adding an 'Annabelle.' Takes more sun than most mopheads and has basket-ball sized white flowers. Very dramatic cut flowers, very easy to grow.

Leslies:

One of the blues, I did prune several years ago before I knew that I wasn't supposed to. But its been several years since I pruned it. The other blue I've never pruned. The pink one that had a few blooms this year was pruned to the ground (by mistake and not by me) but it did have one or two blooms this year. I'm just not sure what the problem is.

I may try the Annabelle one to see how that does.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Ann

http://www.hydrangeashydrangeas.com/faq.html

Thanks decogrl, but if you read that FAQ, you'll notice it does not discuss how far down to prune. What I did see, on re-reading it, though was this:

In addition, if it becomes necessary to prune a plant to reduce its size, it may be cut back in June or July without harming the next year's bloom. But it will return almost immediately to it's former size. This is one reason why it's best to plant a hydrangea where it does not have to be pruned.

In other words, hydrangeas are going to be however tall they want to be and pruning isn't going to change that much. Guess I'll stop trying to shorten them!

LeslieS: I have mariesii variegata and it does take longer to get its leaves each year after winter than my other hydrangeas. It has stayed pretty small -- I've had it three years. It's about 4' tall x 3' wide. It's quite happy in dappled shade.