Dwarf oakleaf hydrangea ‘Munchkin’

* Common name: Dwarf oakleaf hydrangea ‘Munchkin’

* Botanical name: Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Munchkin’

* What it is: This 2010 introduction from the U.S. National Arboretum is a compact form of our native oakleaf hydrangea.

   ‘Munchkin’ offers four seasons of interest with its June and July cone-shaped flowers (starting white and maturing to pink and then rusty-tan), large oak-looking leaves that turn a rich, burnt-red in fall, and cinnamon-colored peeling bark for interest when the leaves are off. And it does it in a compact package that’s about two feet less than the straight species.

* Size: Grows 3½ to 4 ½ feet tall and wide.

* Where to use: Like most oakleaf hydrangeas, ‘Munchkin’ does best in part shade or dappled sunlight out of full afternoon sun, but it’ll tolerate even hot and sunny spots. It’s also one of the better choices for a shrub that can hold its own among the big roots under or near large shade trees. (Just give plants there some extra water.)

   Oakleaf hydrangeas are attractive enough to stand singularly as specimen shrubs, but they’re also naturals for massing in wooded areas or planting as an informal hedge in partly shaded borders or woodland edges.

* Care: Protect young plants (first year or two) with wire cylinders to prevent rabbit and deer nibbling of the tender wood. Plant in rich, well drained soil and mulch with two to three inches of shredded bark.

   Fertilizer is usually not needed, but an annual topping with compost never hurts. Water weekly when it’s dry for the first couple of years, then plants should be fine except in unusually harsh hot/dry spells.

   If size-control pruning is needed, do it right after the plant finishes blooming in mid-summer. Always cut back to a branch joint.

* Great partner: Underplant with Russian cypress, a soft-needled, light-green, low-growing evergreen that also prefers part-shade conditions. Crested iris, white wood asters, and Allegheny spurge are good shady-perennial underplantings that are also natives.