BIG DUDDY....LOL...Well I have always steered clear of this Hydrangea, so no personal experience in my yard. They were to rich for my blood when they first came out and just looking at them for some reason I was skeptical. But did they ever fly off the shelves at the nurseries that sold them and continue to do so! I know two local people who bought them and never bloomed again after the first year. Then online I hear about people having problems with them in zones higher than our zone 5. So for atleast zone 5 people I would say BIG DUDDY!

I can't say enough good things about my 2 Blushing Brides. Only Hydrangeas in my yard every year that have no die back and are the first to bloom! This is their third season. Only negative I could come up with is they are slower growers. But it has to be because of how much energy they put into flowering ever year. They are loaded again this year, but are close to the 3 foot range in size. I just can't bring myself to pinch off buds to make them bulk up in size. The BB is a real winner! People in zone 5 can feel 100% confident buying it for their gardens.

Big Daddy is slow but BB is excellent-my 3 year old is 5feet tall and loaded!!!

Thanks for the input. I may have spoken too soon about my Big Daddies, as the flower heads continue to open more fully. Some are actually pretty large. Not bad overall.

My Blushing Bride blooms very well, but I'm just not a huge fan of the light blue streaky petals.

Oddly enough, one of the things I'm lacking in my garden is just a good old reliable, regular, blue mophead. LOL. Sounds boring, but I think they're really cool! I have a 'Penny Mac' in a large pot on our covered deck and should either plant that out or propagate.

BamaDave you should try a Goliath Hydrangea. They are semi reliable in my zone 5. In yours they should do great! They get HUGE mophead blooms.

If you are looking for a rebloomer Forver & Ever has the Blue Heaven Hydrangea Mophead, but requires alot of shade. Also also of course the Endless Summer.

Goliath is a good choice here also

I must say that my 3 Big Daddys are flashing full now after 2 years. We have had a week of near 100 degree days-several over 100 and the other hydrangeas are fast fading in the heat and lack of rain--Big Daddy and Ayshea however are just now peaking. Must be those shiny leaves.....

I have mine in a pretty sunny place, but I have at about 50 buds over two big daddy plants. I have had them planted for about 3 years and they are about 4 feet wide by 4 feet high. But the blooms on mine may not be quite as large as advertised, but they are huge. I guess mine are Big Daddys and not the big duddys. haha

for bb try a high posh. fert. to get the blue out

I'd love to try one, but it's hard to find these "Southern Living" plants. One of my local nurseries has 3-gals for $60 - can we say WTF??

My opinion I would pass on it in zone 6. Unless you winter protect it, I think you will be sad most years. If you are looking for a reliable large blooming Mophead, my suggestion would be a blue heaven from the forever and ever series. They bloom for me every year with no protection and are my largest blooming mopheads. They are most commonly found at Lowes. 1 gallons are $12 and 3 gallons are $25. I bought 1 gallons and they are a fast growing. Only drawback to them is they are more particular than most rebloomers to the sunlight. They prefer more shady spots.