I've had my endless summer for about 3 years too. I heard all the hype about how wonderful it was, but it didnt do anything for me. It was slow to grow, not one bloom since I bought it- needless to say, I was unimpressed. BUT this year, it was my first to bloom and I have about 14 blooms on it. Mine is probably in the least favorable spot- it gets shade until about 2 then full sun. (I put it in that spot thinking my birch will one day be big enough to shade it- maybe next year) I Did cover it this year- I may have covered it the first year dont really remember. My preziosa has done well every year and so have my Nikkos and harlequinn. I guess what I'm saying is dont give up on the endless summer yet. The others you mentioned I have always wanted but lack the space at the moment- the trees in my yard need to start growing so I have less sun darn it!

You can't have deer and unprotected hydrangea. Unless you have an at-least-8-feet-high fence around them, the deer will find and eat them. that's why you aren't getting flowers from Endless Summer. If you don't spray deer repellent after a rain, they will find them. that's why I no longer grow hydrangea. I'm amazed that people don't understand how much deer love them and how pernicious deer really are. I've worked in horticulture for 10 years, and when people ask why their perfectly sited and fed roses and hydrangeas don't bloom I say "DEER!" Just because you don't see them near your shrubs doesn't mean they aren't browsing (yes I know that's a double negative).

First, Dirr doesn't know it all. His trials haven't been extensive enough or done in enoug microclimates to be conclusive. I believe the caretaker of Wayside Garden Center in Macedon NY has done some good work - check out hydrangeasinthenorth.com for the basics and if you would like to try his book.

Vicomtesse might bloom from the crown.

Deer definitely suck. They will literally come up behind you after you've finished a gardening session and eat your work. Turkeys aren't much better - one came up when my back was turned and was eating grass seed I had just done patch work with!

Concerning hardiness, I'm often compelled to use the "burial mound" technique of digging up all hydrangeas with a 7-gallon or less sized root ball and trash bagging the ball, and then piling them under my deck in a mound with a tarp over them until spring. This would save all the stems, minus a few buds that might get knocked off.