I have it and love it. It is perfectly hardy. This past April's freeze did minimal damage. Get it, you won't regret it. (Sorry about the rhyme.)

entling ... where do you live? ... i was so excited to get your reply ... however ... i have called a couple nurseries & they insisted it will die back to the ground in our chicago winters!!!!

what say you? ... thanks, phyl, who is still hoping ...

Phyl - I'm in Barrington. If you want to see a photo of what mine looked like last fall, it's in the gallery on the perennial forum. I'd love to know which nurseries think this can't grow here. It's about 9' tall now and very woody. My Heptacodium is not even planted in a warm micro climate. It is near the southeast corner of my yard. I've had it at least 5 years and it has never died back to the ground. (Even that year when we had no snow cover & it was bitterly cold, bursting the water mains under the streets.)

countryside nursery in crystal lake ... said they don't carry it cuz it is not hardy here ... same with a smaller nursery here in libertyville ... pasquesi (in lake bluff) said they could order one, but it is $140 ... that is too much for something that *MIGHT* be hardy here! ... does the barrington pasquesi carry it?

i had read somewhere here on gardenweb (?) that they are really fast growers ... and, therefore, buy small plants ...

i haven't tried to find your pictures on the perennials gallery yet ... when was it posted?

thank you so much, phyl

p.s. *where* did you buy yours???? obviously. if you live in barrington, a nursery near you can't be tooooo far from me!

Here is a link to a page to order them on line. I wonder how small they are and how fast they grow. I never heard of them before you post. Now I would like one too. They sound great.

http://www.bigdipperfarm.com/cgi-bin/searchstuff.pl?Botanical=Heptacodium

Here is a link that might be useful: page to buy one

passion for flowers ... hey, thanks, ... i have never come across bigdipperfarm before ... what a great site; i took the time to sign up for their newsletter & now i'm going back to peruse their entire site!

also, their $15 price sounds just about right too! ... even if it is small, as i mentioned above, it supposedly is a really fast grower ... & they have it listed as z4 hardy ... i just don't really understand this ...

phyl - I got mine as a twig from the now-defunct Roslyn Nursery. I try to order plants from places east of the Mississippi because of the shipping charges. I'm surprised that the local nurseries don't think it's hardy here. I'm going to have a look at the Morton Arboretum website to see what they have to say about it. Here's a current photo of mine.

entling...How old is yours? It looks great. I ordered two, from separate on-line nurseries, and they are slow growing. I've never seen them in nurseries around here, although I haven't visited any this year, so don't go by that. Seems they are getting more and more popular. I, for one, love them.

Anitamo - I forgot to write down when I got it, but, according to my records, I've had it at least 5 years & I have been living here for 14 years, so somewhere in there. Sorry I can't be more specific, but I can't remember when I planted it. I do remember planting it, just not when. (This, however sad, is true.) I started keeping my garden journal in 1996 & I can't find any mention of it b4 its 1st blooming in 2003. My best guess is that it is about 10 years old.
I check the Morton Arboretum's website, & they recommend Heptacodium for Northern IL, listing it as hardy to Zone5.

I got mine this spring. It's a twig from Bluestone.

I live in Palatine, and was unsuccessful w/ this plant a few years back. It was a small plant from Forest Farm, barely survived the 1st winter, didn't grow much during the summer, then died after its 2nd winter. I read somewhere to give this plant west exposure so it won't wake up too early in spring & be injured by late cold snaps. (obviously mine died so maybe this was bad advise?) If you're wiling to try it, I'd suggest planting in spring so it's roots have a better chance of establishing b4 winter & reduces chance of heaving, especially if you go with a small size.
Important to note - we had alot of huge old Walnut trees surrounding the yard & I think this was planted b4 I learned what havoc juglone can create. So maybe it's not juglone tolerant...?
And I remember seeing this plant in local nurseries just after I yanked up the dead one - maybe Knuppers in Palatine, or Platt Hill?

Thanks for the added info entling. I know it is hardy here, since the two I have are growing, but so far it is slow growth. But, then again, the older one is only three years old. Patience, that's what I need. LOL.

Entling, another question...did you prune yours in the beginning?

sissyz...one of mine was from Bluestone last spring. It has grown a lot from that twig. So get ready to be pleasantly surprised by what you get from Bluestone. Both of mine are planted on the west side, but I do have a lot of mature oaks that offer some shade.

anitamo - The plant was single-stemmed when I got it & I did encourage that habit with pruning. But, it did not try very hard to be multi-stemmed. :>

My Heptacodium survives in Minneapolis with minimal winter damage. Any dieback is quickly overgrown and it blooms beautifully every year.

mine has grown quite a bit, Southern exposure with prairie winds, I hope he does ok this winter!

I was just going through some catalogs and Beaver Creek Nursery has it listed in their 2007 wholesale catalog. They're out of Poplar Grove, IL. Beaver Creek is wholesale but their retail side (Klehms Song Sparrow) carries it and ships. See the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Klehm's Song Sparrow