This discussion of exposure is very helpful. Since I rarely get the placement right on any plant and end up moving them more than once. Maybe this will help me figure it out better this time around. I have to agree Wendy, that depending on trees and structures, locations can differ so much. The way the neighbor's trees and all our fences are situated, it has created a wind 'alley' effect down one of my borders, from West to East. I am still experimenting with what works. I could plant a taxus at one end that might cut down on wind there, but I grow perennials in that border and my veggie garden is near there and I thought the wind is probably an asset as far as keeping down the mildew diseases. I only have a few evergreens and I'm adding more, little by little. I did have someone come and prune for me in the spring and he remarked that he was surprised that my boxwood do so well. They rarely have any winter damage. I must have just got lucky because I didn't even know about winter damage when I planted them. [g] One is in the front facing East with the house behind, another is in the back against the house facing west and one is on the north side of my southern lot line, stockade fence. So maybe this would be good locations for the leucothoe? Sorry to hear about your leaf problems in zone 8, BBoy. I guess every zone has it's challenges. Ego....that sounds right to me too. Because I've read that the morning sun hitting the evergreens is what causes the problem, when they warm up and then get cold again, right? I find I have the most difficult time deciding to plant anything in my northern exposures though. It always seems so dark there, I'm afraid to put anything there. [g] And my West exposure does get sun in the afternoon. I haven't figured out yet, how much wind the plants are exposed to in those beds. They have the house behind them. I don't think I have a bed with a Northwest exposure. I'm happy to hear you aren't getting sunburn on the Pierises. I have just bought two of them in the last year and I enjoy them. One is facing East and I am planting the other facing south in the shade of a Maple. Interesting that you should mention the hydrangea bloom, ego. I read that you were supposed to plant them facing East and that is where most of them went. I have noticed that I don't get as much bloom as I thought I should. I moved one into a more Southeast location and it is blooming better and I plan on adding another one in the spring that would get a more southern exposure too.

Good for you Tessa. Nothing like getting a new plant in the ground. I had to forego mine because there wasn't a good bed made for it. So, the weeds consumed it and it disappeared. I hope you'll do better than I did. One day, I'll be starting them again. Were I you and you are working with cuttings, I'd pot them up and get the roots well developed before I put them in the ground. If you have enough cuttings, why not try both and then report back to everyone what you had the most success with. Since we haven't hit our last freeze date, whatever you put in the ground will need to be protected before the last freeze. I planted some Firecracker Plants last Fall and didn't want them to freeze back till they developed much better roots. So, I spent this winter covering each of my 3 plants to insure that they grow and be ready to take off this Spring. Now, those pots had roots, but bowing bound and determined... I'm counting of these being in bloom when the first hummingbird scouts come through Temple and that it all call them to stay long enough until the Turk's Cap starts sending up leaves/blooms. If not, the the red Salvias in that Hummingbird Island will definitely be definitely be blooming as I see greens leaves on most all of them. If you'd like to take some pics of your cuttings and want a little more hand holding, then I love seeing pictures. So, I'm Including my email addy for you: crystalfisher912@.gmail.com . .

Ericta，your plant, I think, has got some damage on its root sysytem. This could be resulted by two thing, 1. you put too much water so the soil in pot is too wet that the root system cannot breath well. 2.Osmanthus like acidic soil, and in most cases, after long time of watering, the soil's ph become higher, that also damage root.

Hi Dax, The correct name for Jasper is 'Hexenbesen Jasper.' You are correct in that it's a Günter Horstmann find. 'Jasper Lake' is an entirely different broom altogether, found by Jörg Kohout. Incidentally, there's another engelmann broom that Jörg found in Alberta called, 'Talbot Lake.' It's simply the next lake over from Jasper Lake. ~Dave Here is a link that might be useful: More information