Hi all

I'm not a gardener myself, but I thought I'd turn to the experts for
some help...

My brother (or, more precisely, my sister-in-law) just had a baby boy.
Their first. I'd like to give them a special gift. I live in
France; they live in Portland, Oregon. I thought that a shrub would
be better than flowers--more permanent, more meaningful. Then I
thought that it might be cool if the shrub were a bit more special
than your standard shrub. Since it will be about the same age as Noah
(my new nephew), and they both will grow, then wouldn't it be great if
they both grew at the same speed? Approximately, of course. But
still.

As I said, right now they live in Portland. But they're very likely
to move in the next few years, so I'm looking for something that can
grow in a pot and not need to be planted in the ground.

So I'm looking for a shrub that will be about 3 feet tall in three
years; 4 feet tall in 7 years; 5 feet tall in 12 years; and top out
around 6 feet. Does anyone out there have any ideas? Or can someone
point me towards a website where I might find typical growth curves
for common shrubs? Is environment (sunshine, amount of watering) so
important to growth rates that I'm barking up the wrong tree? Any
help you can provide will be much appreciated...

Thanks so much

Jeff