Opinion of any of the Gatsby Series

If anyone has purchased any of the Proven Winners (PW) Gatsby Series oakleaf hydrangeas, what do you have to say so far?

Star - pointed double blooms 6'

Moon - tightly packed double white florets 10'

Gal - large, pure white, single blooms 6'

Pink - white blooms that "quickly" change to pink (maybe commercial reference to a Paniculata Vanilla Strawberry) 6'

This message was edited Nov 8, 2015 11:26 PM

Mine died (Star) from Bluestone Perennials but then it was quite small. I hope they start making them available locally as they are typically much bigger, cheaper, and you can pick the best of the bunch.

I have never heard of Bluestone Perennials. Seems to be rated kind of "ehh" in Gardenwatchdog.

I've ordered from them the last 3 years and most of their plants have grown well but not this year! Lost the hydrangea and the Humpback Whale Hosta looked more like a minnow. At least the 8 winter hollies I got are all doing good. I've ordered hydrangeas and hostas from them in the past that all did great so this coming year I may cool my jets. I'd rather pick them up locally if I can find them.

Bluestone is currently in the Watchdog Top 30 companies. In fact, I think it is always in the top 30. I have had good success with them as long as I remove the coir pots before planting. I know the pots are supposed to be biodegradable but in my experience they turn into a thin, shiny, hard material that does not decompose at all, even though the pot is completely buried with no coir at the surface. Even small pieces of coir that have fallen on the ground as I am removing the pot before planting do the same thing and do not decompose.

I have been buying from Bluestone for almost 30 years. Even when they sold perennials in small plastic 3-packs and the surface plant looked like a seedling, the root systems were strong and healthy and took off right away. By the end of the growing season, the plant would be as large as if you had bought a 1 gal plant.

Star (and the other Gatsby's) is a Proven Winners' introduction so you might be able to special order from local nurseries that carry PW and get a bigger shrub. I have some places that locally get PW but who knows if they will order these particular ones.

This message was edited Dec 5, 2015 4:26 PM

I love Bluestone (which you will see if you go to Garden Watchdog) and have ordered at least 150 plants from them. Like NoH20 I remove the coir. I ordered from them pre and post coir, and the plants are phenomenal.

But I must say (and it could be zone related) that no shrub I have ordered from them has ever survived, despite lots of care. I have ordered small shrubs from other companies and with care they have slowly grown to size.

My recommendation is to hit garden centers and hardware stores at the end of the season. Menards, a hardware stire has the most amazing plants in October. I picked up Endless Summer and Lyndsey Ann hydrangeas that are larger than those from Bluestone, but even cheaper - around $4.00 each. Many times those stores get Proven Winner and other shrubs but can't sell them because the price point is a bit too high for their buyers, they have a large supply, and they just blow them out at the end of the growing season.

I purchased salvia New Sensation Rose, salvia Blue Queen, and Salvia Mainacht for $1.00 each this past October. And arabis 'Snowfix' fpr $1.00 each. The ones like that purchases by me the year before look like mature plants. All from Menards.