Dappled shade and moist (well-drained) soil sound perfect. Will your new bed be raised? Your hydrangea might encounter lots of competition from all the roots you mention. Also, what kind of hydrangea are you considering? You'll have to make sure it does OK in your zone. We in the colder zones are more limited in what we can grow without going to a lot of trouble to winter protect.

Thanks, Jen.
I am planning on building a new bed on top of existing ground. I got my plans from the book 'The Shade Gardener'
(forget the author). I'm going to lay down 6-8" of new soil. He has a "recipe" for the soil mix I'm going to follow.
I am in so. NH, Z5. I'm not sure which kind of hydrangea cause there are so many beautiful ones out there. I also was wondering if diff. species prefer diff. conditions.
I have a hydragea paniculata 'Graniflora' in the middle of my front yard that I planted 2 years ago and it's doing beautifully. It get's indirect sun and moist, but well-drained soil.
Also, deer and rabbits can sometimes be a problem for me.
The deer haven't touched my Gran. and of course, it's too high for the bunnies.
The shade garden is down and in front of above hydrangea and I thought another one in shrub form would be a nice complement. It would also be in a very visible position when you drive up to the house, so I want something pretty.
I tend to lean toward the white ones or perhaps pale blue or a very pale pink. I don't care for the deeper color ones. I like more subtle.
Thanks again!!

Lahtay, your paniculata is one of the more cold hardy hydrangeas, and - it blooms on new wood.

The pink or blue hydrangeas are macrophylla. Most H. macrophylla cultivars flower primarily on previous years growth and blooms iffy without winter protection in Z5. Weather conditions that damage aboveground parts of the plant can reduce flowering. Damaging weather conditions include early fall freezes that occur before the plant is completely dormant, extremely low winter temperatures, and late spring freezes that occur after the plant has broken dormancy.

As for flower color, that's going to depend on your soil PH and how much trouble you may want to go to amending it. My soil is acidic, as is our ample rain - my hydrangeas will have at least blue undertones without constant intervention. Happily, I like blue.

Thanks morz8!
What about the h.serrata cultivars?

As I understand it, the serrata are only slightly more bud hardy than the macrophylla...to be guaranteed blooms you would need to winter protect. There are good tips further down the page about winter protection in a post by hayseedman if you want them badly enough to save buds from cold; I'm fortunate that it isn't necessary here.

Do the oakleaf (quercifolia) or arborescens appeal to you at all? Like the taller paniculatas, they are more cold hardy.

m-Thanks again!
I read hsman's post. Wow! What a great post!
Now I know why we always had beautiful hydrangeas on our property when I grew up on the coast of Maine and never have had success here!
I am too busy with my kids to put that much work into overwintering plants.
I heard the deer like the oakleafs?
I'm not familiar with the arborescens, so I'll check them out online.
Thanks Again!

Annabelles will grow well in zone 5. Serrata 'Blue Billows' is also very cold hardy and of course there is always Endless Summer if you really have your heart set on a pink/blue mophead. None of these should need winter protection......yg