They're spoken for! Thanks!

Hi Mmedici, Funny you should say that. Most nursery sites that I've seen rate them as hardy in zones 5 - 9...I have SnowQueen, Alice and the species Quercifolia. (still waiting for Little Honey) So far, they all seem happy & healthy. Oakleafs are probably my favorite hydrangea and SnowQueen is my favorite Oakleaf (so far). I like the more upright form and the mix of orange, red and burgandy fall color. A bonus of zone 9 is that short of extraodinary weather/exposure conditions, a good deal of the leaves hang on until new ones replace them in Spring, so it's not necessarily deciduous down here. I gather from reading other posts from CA, that your zone 9 is not necessarily the same as my FL zone 9. I think CA zone 9 is cooler and less humid than FL, so you should be able to grow them beautifully providing you have a good hot summer. Another thing to consider is, some sites will say that they can tolorate 'full sun' and maybe they can up north but I would never even consider planting them in full sun down here. Gardengal is right about their water requirements too. The Oakleafs are my only hydrangeas that don't keep me constantly running around with a hose!! (after they are established) All they ask is very good drainage. They require considerably little effort for such a huge return. Another reason why they are my favs....Plant away, you have everything to gain....yg

Barbara, it's a hot day here when it's 80! Mind you, I'm about a 5 minute walk from the Fraser river and as you know large bodies of water will temper the air. It gets a little warmer farther in the valley, by about 10 degrees, but here on the We(s)t Coast we don't get the hot and cold they get further inland in the Interior out Myrle's and Faye's way. To each his own, and while you can dress for the cold, society does not allow us to undress for the hotter days, so, my wife and I prefer this temperate rainforest we live in. FF, the sun's angle is just basic science, the lower the angle the less intense it is. Sun tolerance basically comes from the plant staying turgid enough to continue to support itself provided it stays hydrated. The sun's intensity at our latitude is seldom able to evaporate enough water from within the plant's tissue to cause sunburn. It can and does happen, and it happens in July/August when the precipitation falls off and we're unable to provide enough additional hydration to the plant. Some Hosta species and cultivars are better able to cope with lower levels of hydration than others. For example, most fragrant-flowered hostas are very sun tolerant, whereas certainly for me any members of the Hyacinthina family can begin to look quite desiccated by mid-august if I don't supplement their water needs. As a broad rule, variegated hostas with a lot of white are less sun-tolerant. Hostas with more substance to their leaves tend to fare better, but be aware that blue hostas will go green if in too much sun because their waxy coating -which gives them their blue appearance- melts in too much sun. Pieter This post was edited by pietertje on Thu, Jun 13, 13 at 13:47

I've seen gardeners out on Jacksonville Beach and Amelia Island (zone 9a) attempting to grow Queen, Pygmy Date, Areca and Foxtail Palms and they don't look as good as Orlando, St. Pete, Melbourne and southward. They look "rough". Queen Palms are nutrient hogs--I know from personal experience. What does look great are the Pindo Palms though! You could attempt a Mule Palm--a cross between the Queen and Pindo palm.