Tony,

Your site is not ideal for Hydrangea macrophyllas (mopheads). Since you have great established plants already doing well at this site, I would leave them in place. Blooms are not guaranteed in your zone without winter protection and that won't look so swell in front of your house all winter. Mopheads like morning sun and protection from afternoon sun or they can burn up and instead of blue, you will have brown blooms. They are very thirsty and require good drainage. Sounds like maybe the back yard is the right place. If you want blue mopheads of medium size, Endless Summer might be the way to go in your zone. (and yes they require acidic soil to be blue) They don't require winter protection, however the stems may die back to the ground each year which will keep them fairly small. The front site may not be impossible and I don't want to thwart your enthusiasm, but a western exposure is an uphill battle unless you can provide some shade.......yg

Your request poses some interesting considerations......you might want to give this some serious thought before making a final decision.

Hydrangea macrophylla or serrata (the only ones that will provide you with blue flowers) will be borderline hardy in a zone 5/6 and will most likely require winter protection to thrive and bloom. Personally, a bundled up hydrangea (or several) is not necessarily a look I'd favor for a front entry foundation planting for several months of the year. Yes, I understand that some plants will need protection from winter in colder climates, but do you really want to feature them at your front entry? Or would they be better placed somewhere less conspicuous?

Second, afternoon sun is a pretty harsh location for hydrangeas, specially in hot summer areas, and will require nearly daily watering to thrive. If possible, morning sun and afternoon shade is preferable.

Finally, acidic soil is required to maintain that blue coloring. Soils can be amended to increase acidity, but it will be an ongoing process and depending on your water supply, can be cancelled out by treated water.

If you decide that these may not be the best choices for foundation plantings, you may opt to retain the boxwoods to give some evergreen structure and year round interest and add your blues with other plantings. Lots of blue perennials to consider and there is a blue-flowered ROS you could include as well (as well as Caryopteris, a late summer bloomer also). FWIW, ROS can be kept at a manageable size by annual pruning - you can cut these guys back nearly to the ground with no ill effects.

yg....great minds think alike!! I was busy writing while you were busy posting.

Don't be discouraged Tony, but DO give this some thought. You may not be very happy with the results if you proceed with your original intentions.

Hey, thank you both for your feedback! I'm glad I posted.

So hydrangeas typically thrive in morning sun and afternoon shade?

The Rose of Sharon is kind of tall and leggy, with half the shrub in bloom and the other half looking like brown sticks. The previous owner planted 3 yews, 2 boxwoods, and 1 azalea too.

yup, morning sun, afternoon shade OR all day dappled sun/shade like under a canopy of high trees. Lots of water, (the name hydrangea means water vessel) moist but not soggy (good drainage) and some Hollytone or Osmocote w/soil acidifiers (or both) now and then. After a season or two they will require a little less water but should never be allowed to dry out. That's it!......yg