I have only one, 'Chevy Chase'. When I moved to the South, I planted it in honor of the hometown I'd just been obliged to abandon (and the birthplace of this rambler), Chevy Chase, MD. It's happy here growing along its split rail fence -- and I'm always delighted when it begins its long period of cherry red bloom each spring. I purchased mine from Roses Unlimited back in the late 90's. They no longer offer it. I think I got the very last one they had in stock. Here is a link that might be useful: 'Chevy Chase'

I e-mailed them today to see if they sent a replacement yet. I got a response from Aaron telling me that he and his wife had a talk about whether I had Candy Floss or not - he thinks what I have is Candy Floss, just that growing conditions can change colors of the flower. He added that he sent a replacement bulb just to be sure. Just to put it out there, Can stamen/anthers change from white to pink in a stressed situation? Has anyone seen that happen on their plant?

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.

Hi chelone :-) I have some of your Siberian iris! lol I really should rename them Rte 95 iris. :-) I just found out from someone on the iris forum who is planning on going into the iris business in 2008, that she has over 100 varieites of siberian iris so far. I didn't even know there were that many. They seem indestructible. So tell me, are all your German iris unnamed? Are they tall bearded, or other? I haven't tried the Japanese, and guess I won't considering I have dry soil pretty much and no low spots to speak of. Have any photos of some of your iris? :-)