I've got 3 Endless Summers living in my backyard that get nothing but filtered shade. Direct sunlight never touches them. I'll call them year 2 since they're the ones I moved last year when a tree sucked the life outta them. They're about 2 1/2 feet tall, green and blooming blue softballs. Let me count...15.

I've mulched my garden beds with cocoa mulch for 30 years. Respectful nod to my father. Hard to come by these days, but it's great stuff. My local Home Depot doesn't carry it anymore because the buyer said "it molds."

I'm convinced it's the secret of my success. Yes, it does mold. Maybe I'm wrong. Few handfuls of 10-10-10 on top of my cocoa mulch in the spring and my garden is good to go. And the smell...you won't need dessert for a week.

I only wised up to hydrangeas a few years ago and the garden was primed.

These 3 ES hydrangeas are growing with yellow perennial Floxglove Grandiflora and pink Monarda...wow. The foxgloves rebloom with attention. Just don't let them know their blooming job is done...so remove the seeds and you'll get rebloom.

I've got a few other hydrangea varieties in the same sitch back there which will need some serious pruning next year. No sun. I'm getting pretty cavalier with my pruning shears and hydrangeas these days. Until now, I shuddered.

I would err on the side of shade for any macrophylla hydrangea, especially in the South.