Oak Leaf Hydrangea

Hydrangea quercifolia (Oak Leaf Hydrangea)

The Oak Leaf Hydrangea, as long as I have known it, has always been in this genera of plants seemingly isolated for use only by horticultural hipsters. And so once upon a time, when I was part of that world, I saw the Oak Leaf as a plant that would be at the forefront of the revolution when it happened. Twenty years later plant geeks everywhere will still refer to it as "underutilized."
I mean, it is pretty great.
The plant shown above was put in the ground as a 30" plant in a 5 gallon can 12 months ago. Looks great and has put on 50% mass in that time. A success story.
Sometime they seem to take a couple years to establish. Sometimes they seem to take 5.
But that's plants and gardening. If you want plants that are success stories every time and immediately - well...

I guess there's a place for that too.