I have one and I never had any problem with it. Except it did not bloom for me. I keep it for the foliage, so it is OK.

It gets 1-2 hours of direct sun in the morning and dappled shade for the rest of the day. I planted it 4 years ago in our heavy clay soil. Mulch, compost, and lasagna method improved the soil tremendously. It is a well drained rich soil with lots of worms now.

BTW, you might get more responses if you will post this on Hydrangea forum.

I have it and just bought some more. I don't think it likes full sun or wet feet. Great plant although flowering is iffy

I too had trouble with it at first. For some reason, with my soil and conditions and all, it was having difficulties even when receiving full sun only until 1pm. My soil is moderately rich, decently draining, and I let it dry a bit between deep waterings.

So, I moved it to a nice bright spot with full sun only until about 11am. It's done so well that I planted another in a very similar location. Both are very happy and both are now in bud, although with foliage that bright, I probably won't even notice the flowers.

I think Little Honey is cute as heck. One of them is planted near a deep green Aucuba which is lightly spotted in gold, some purple-leaved Actea (Cimicifuga), a large blue-leaved hosta w/gold rims, and a short (2-foot) bamboo which is lightly variegated in gold (very responsibly planted, I might add). They all look great together.

Best of luck!

Looks great here. They are blooming at only a foot tall and the blooms are huge. The local nursery can't keep them in stock.

Thanks all! Well, this helps me decide whether to put some further effort into it. :) It sounds like if I could find a place that gets morning sun and shade the rest of the day, it might help. I first had it in opposite conditions: Morning shade and afternoon sun. I moved it to full shade and it continues to pout.

Mine is actually blooming, but it's the foilage that looks very ratty. Maybe it just needs a little more time and better siting.

I do think they are pretty as can be. Mine looked nice last year left in a pot (we bought them in July, so it was too hot to plant in the ground at that time). I put it in the ground in the fall, and it had the most gorgeous fall color! It's worth trying to make it happy for that reason alone. :)

The frost we had following an exceptionally warm March did a number on my folliage this year, but it does have flower buds. In my zone 5 having 1/2 day shade is a must, so I imagine in Tenn it would be even more critical.

tj

I find it looks ratty the first year and then much better the second year. So once you place it, give it some time.

My local nursery every year gets about 6-10 Little Honeys in 3 gallon pots. They sell for $50 and dont last a day at the nursery and the most I have ever paid for a Hydrangea is a little over $20. I got a Sike's Dwarf Oakleaf Summer of 2010 in a pint cup for $3 at a Botanical Garden. Last year it at least tripled in size and shot off a bloom. This year it has seems to be already full grown according to the tag & has 6 or more blooms on it. I planted it in rich soil (no clay) and receives full sun from noon to almost sunset. Always looks great the entire year (no burned leaves). If you dont mind the green leaves instead of the yellow and are looking for a small Oakleaf. You cant go wrong with the Sike's Dwarf. I dont have the room for a large Oakleaf and was wanting the Little Honey. I figured for $3 if I didnt like Sike's Dwarf I would dig it up and give it away. The foliage it started to grow early in March did get killed off in our April freezes/frost. I figured I wouldnt get flowers this year, but I was wrong & grew like a weed! Even if I got a Little Honey for free now I wouldnt trade for this very hardy/reliable Oakleaf.

Without a doubt my favorite plant. Have had one for about 10 years - all of its life in a container and now in its third garden. I have nothing bad to say about this plant - stunning spring foliage, great fall color, interesting stem and growth habit. It does flower but not to the extent of other selections of oakleaf hydrangea.

The original grower (who gifted me this plant to begin with) requested photos of my Little Honey for their nursery catalog. I was quite tickled with that request :-)

I bought one of these just recently at a hardy plant sale. The grower had several and now I wish I had purchased one or two more because none of the nurseries I've called carry it.

I don't care if mine never flowers - the foliage is exquisite.

Now I'm glad I picked up 3 this year. I stumbled upon them in a nursery I had never been to before and they were only ten bucks each. Sound like I've done OK with placement based on what you've all said about sun.

Steve, would love to see a photo of the area you describe.
GG, pretty cool to get a pic in a catalog!

You can buy them online but not cheap. I'm chopping and changing stuff all the time but I have 4 of these established and they will not be moving any time soon for sure. Great plants. Have some paired with Ligularia