My experience is hydrangea can do OK in lots of shade provided they get some indirect sunlight or the shade is dappled with sun. You should't plant them under pine trees with low hanging branches. 2-3 hrs of sun is OK too. They may wilt on some of the hotter days. Give them plenty of water and they'll perk up.

Kidhorn - Thank you for your reply. I am concerned that 3hrs of Alabama afternoon sun will be too much (90 -100* temps May thru September). Also thinking that blooms will be sparse in deep shade. I was hoping that someone would give a ranking of the sun/shade tolerance of the varieties that I listed. I would think that not all hydrangeas are equally adaptable and that some would do better in more shade/sun than others. Google searches have been unproductive because of conflicting info. For example, one site says that ES does well in full sun, and another says part shade - do not place in full sun. Maybe I am making this more complicated than it should be. Any more opinions out there???

All hydrangeas are going to need some sunlight to bloom well. I think it goes without saying that none of your hydrangeas are going to like 3 hours of direct afternoon sun, however, ONCE ESTABLISHED, with GENEROUS WATERING, some may handle it better than others. Endless Summer does not handle the sun as well as my Nikkos. It's a tough choice but if I absolutely HAD to, I'd place the plants that are best known for their foliage, (Oakleaf, Variegata, Lady in Red) in the shadier spots and the ones famous for blooms in the sunnier spots) but I would not put any small cuttings in the ground yet as they will not have enough substance to handle the heat/sun.
Not all of us have ideal situations in which to grow the number and type of plants that we would like so compromise is always an issue. My solution to a row of hydrangeas that get too much midday sun, was to plant very fast growing (easily over 5 ft tall in one season) Cassias amongst them. They have a very open habit so they don't totally block the sun, but rather filter it during the worst part of the day. When the hydrangeas are pretty much done, the Cassia is covered with yellow blooms at Thanksgiving through Christmas. Hence the nickname 'Christmas Cassia'.
If you leave the plants in large containers for a while, you can move them around until you find a spot where each will be happy. I do it all the time before I plant. Good luck....yg

I would rather put them in shade all day than put them in afternoon sun. In my experience, my hydrangeas bloom even if they don't get direct sun all day. And the blooms last longer pretty thru fall. As long as it is not dark shade like directly under a heavy canopy of a large tree, they should all be fine.

All - Thank you for the great advice. I am going to leave them in pots until the weather starts to cool. As they mature I will experiment with different locations. I have noticed that some of the areas that I thought of as deep shade actually get some dappled rays at different times of the day and are fairly bright. Might have to thin out a few scrub pines and sweet gums in a wooded area, but they need to come down anyway. - MP

I live in the ATlanta area with very similar conditions. Morning shade, afternoon sun. My hydrangeas do well but of course look sad during the heavy sun periods. I am hoping that the Chantilly Lace I put in this year will bllom there.
Mary/Gaiensville GA

The front of my neighbors house faces directly West and gets no afternoon shade. He has a large group of unknown lacecaps that are absolutely gorgeous and flower their heads off. Come July and August they will get droopy in the afternoon. He doesn't do any supplemental watering for his shrubs. So, it can obviously be done but lots of water will need to be applied until they are well established. Probably would need daily water to keep the mature shrubs from drooping. A good, deep soil and lots of mulch would help.

Oakleafs will bloom well in fairly heavy shade. I have wild ones all over the woods on my property, and they bloom in the understory of the overhead hardwoods and pines.

A lot of people in my area transplant wild Oakleafs from the woods to full Sun areas. Those do bloom the heaviest, but the compromise is that the foliage doesn't look as good. The plants appear light green and stressed.

For what it's worth, I have potted Hydrangea macrophylla that I haven't been able to plant yet sitting around in my "nursery" in almost full shade, and they have all bloomed fine. I had a 'Fuji Waterfall' sitting in there that was absolutely covered in blooms and was getting little to no direct sunlight.

I live in Miami, FL and the sun is brutal from May to October when it isn't raining. My hydrangea get exactly 2 hours of 1000-1200 sun and sit in shade the rest of the day. I have tried them at every point of the compass. They can't tolerate any other location except beneath the eastern eve of my two-story home and protected from early morning sun by the adjacent single-story house.

Is this recommended? I am about to move a nonflourishing hydrangea from the north fence to the sunnier NorthEast corner . i have the big leaf, dense showy flower variety . its only about 3 ft tall though, and around 10 yrs old. The soil is uber rich. It has peonies and lirope around it. Its our only full sun area (north east direction) . Will it be too much sun?

1818 Federal it is often useful to start your own thread since then you get notifications of responses. Whether moving your big leaf hydrangea (H. macrophylla) plant to full sun is a good idea depends on where you are, what your soil is like, and how regular the water will be. Generally, I try to grow mine in areas with a half day of good sun and the rest bright shade. My soil is well-drained but moist and I rarely water unless we are in drought conditions such as last summer.

Why do you say it is nonflourishing?

Oakleaves will do good in full sun provided you give them ample water.

This row of hydrangeas is in full sun for most of the day on church property in Marietta, GA. So successful that they gave them a harsh pruning last year.

Late May 2011 (backside)

Late May 2013 (street view)

August 2014 - again no watering

Late May 2016 - same hydrangea but notice where the blooms are the heaviest - the sunny side.

NHBabs thank you so much! I say nonflourishing because the plant had barely grown in the past few years ive I've had it. In contrast, my grandmother's was huge and i hardly remember her doing anything.

Oh my location: zone 7 in urban VA. Primary sun is North and East.

1818 Federal, size is caused by a combination of factors: how happy the plant is in its setting, how old the plant is, and genetics. I don't think that full sun in VA would be a good idea. It sounds like its current eastern exposure is probably good.

I know that all along the east coast weather has played a part for the last few years in setting back big-leaf/macrophylla hydrangeas, with late frosts damaging opening buds or particularly severe winter temperatures killing back branches to the ground. I don't know if you noticed any type of cold damage, but this is one possibility. Did you get bloom? If so, was it in spring or later in the season?

If yours is a relatively young plant, you won't find it putting on a lot of above ground growth in the first year or two as it is growing roots to support future above ground growth.

Do you know the variety you have? Was it grown from a cutting of your grandmother's hydrangea? Current fashion in plants has the breeders trying to create smaller plants as many homes have relatively small yards that folks want to use for a multitude of purposes, and so often they are looking for smaller plants. So there are several H. macrophylla that are bred to be in the 2'-3' range, where your grandmother's may well have been something like Nikko Blue that can get to 6' tall and wide.

If during the growing season your hydrangea is blooming and the shrub's leaves look happy (not a yellowish color or droopy) I wouldn't move it.

NHBabs- wow, such rich information.

- not my grandmother's. It was a gift (mid 2000s i think).

- no blooms are not Yellow. They are blue and lavenderin addition to moving it for more sun, it's also so i may see it.

Leaves yellow or droopy - hydrangeas don't have yellow blooms in my experience. If you can give it at least some midday to midafternoon shade it would be best in your area. Regardless, it will need a lot more water in more sun otherwise it will look stressed and totally unappealing (click link for an example). If you want a hydrangea in more sun, look at panicled hydrangeas/Hydrangea paniculata. Not blue, though. They start greenish to white and change to pink or red in late summer. They will still need regular water in sun in your zone.

So partial shade is actually good, yes?

Yes, it is preferred for many hydrangeas - morning sun and afternoon shade is almost ideal.