This shrub is exceptional. It is quite temperamental about where it wants to live. It prefers to be located under a canopy of trees but likes the sun in the early spring. Ours is located under a canopy of a Beech tree. It gets early morning sun and afternoon shade. The summer of 2006, the raccoons lived up to their reputation and destroyed a large branch as they used it as a springboard to attack a nearby bird feeder. The tree was pruned and taped and we're hoping it will survive the winter. Here are a series of photos of its appearance from spring to autumn.