H. arborescens is native to your area of the US and can be grown in full sun in most of the the northern half of the states, sally6340. H. arborescens (a.k.a. Annabelle, Incrediball, Bella Anna, Invincibelle Spirit 1 and 2, etc) and all H. paniculatas should do fine in full sun for you. What you want to look out for is sun-scorch during the hottest months of the year. When that happens, the hydrangea leaves turn all yellow -including the leaf veins- or they turn white-ish.

I still would try to give them some afternoon sun protection, if you have a choice, since they are normally understory shrubs in the wild. I had one in full shade but the location was quite bright so, bloomage was not impaired. I did kill it though when my drip irrigation system failed during the winter so, in areas where the soil does not freeze, I would water it every two weeks or so during dry winters.

See the link below for shrubs native to Ohio:
http://www.gardenguides.com/101779-native-shrubs-ohio.html

Luis

Thanks, Luis, appreciate your feedback as well as the site. I think I'm going to go for it. At first, I was thinking about using Annabelle, but after some research, have discovered that Incrediball's stems are stronger to hold up the weight of the blooms. I have always admired the huge white blooms, so I'm going to have to plant one to get it out of my system. :) I have some paniculatas & a few Cityline, but am crazy about the Incrediball's blooms. If I lose it or have to move it, guess it won't be the worse crisis in the world. :) Thanks again for your help.

Sally

I have grown both Annabelle and Incrediball - I grew Annabelle in NORTHEAST Ohio before - even then, my Annabelle appreciated some afternoon shade, as it would turn brown with too much afternoon sun, and it would wilt fairly easily.

I am now growing Incrediball, and I found that not only are the blooms larger, the stems are incredibly strong and erect. Even after a big rain storm, the flowers were still upright!!! Previously, my Annabelle would have been drooping all over the place by then.... It is overall a much better plant than Annabelle, in my limited experience.

Wow! That is wonderful to know! I have a Vanilla Strawberry hydrangea that has serious problems with drooping blooms when it rains. This will be the 3rd year for it, so in hoping for improvement. I have avoided any aggressive trimming so the stems will harden. Is your Incrediball in all day sun? If so, how does it do?

First off, beware of Incrediballs from Willoway Nurseries (OH grower) if you buy one at a local WNI distributor. I got a nice big healthy 3-gallon last year, which I tried placing in full sun (not the smartest idea for a new plant). But even in full sun it caught what I believe to be cercospora, dropping leaves from the bottom up and spreading laterally. By August all the leaves were gone, leaving the crown to bake in the sun. As a result the "growth" was severely retarded, where now some stems look dead and the remaining live buds (not yet open) are absolutely microscopic compared to cousins Annabelle. Luckily the winter usually resets such illnesses and the plant should rebound, although I might need to move it out of full sun to accomplish this (depending on how much growth it puts out).

A note on the stems of Incrediball... I don't think they're so much sturdier as the fact that the flower heads simply have smaller florets. Hence they probably weigh the same as Annabelle but take up more volume. A good test would be to take a food scale and weigh your largest flower heads of Annabelle and Incrediball.

Also, if anyone's interested in trying a lacecap alternative to Incrediball I recommend Haas Halo. WNI is growing those so ask your local WNI outlet (store or nursery) to order some in.

About VS trimming, it's okay to be somewhat aggressive, because after the plant reaches about 2x2' the little stems become somewhat irrelevant. Any stems less than about 3/16" (eyeball it) in diameter can pretty much go, or at least be trimmed off down to the least bud node. Doing this encourages the growth of new stems that can potentially be 1/4-1/2" in diameter (or at least the same diameter as the parent stem)! Hence you get a sturdier, faster growing plant!

Last note, final trimming of hydrangea arborescens and paniculata should occur about now, as temps have now been warm long enough for everything to break dormancy.

Thanks for all the tips, Springwood, much appreciated! We have the perfect situation here for paniculatas, lots of sun, but so want to try Incrediball. I'm hoping it might adjust in time. If you get a chance, let me know how yours does this year. By the way, anyone tried Bombshell? Is it truly a dwarf & is it as prolific bloomer as advertised?

I do not have it but unfortunately, I responded to a loooot of people who had blooming problems with Bombshell even after they waited a few years and did "all things correctly". I even went as far as contacting the wholesaler who blamed pruning even though many people had not pruned at all. Because they had already bought the shrubs, I suggested to wait 3 years max and replace it if it had not improved by then.

You may want to do a search in the forum for more posts on Bombshell and also consider other similar paniculatas.

Second yr Bombshell in front of Quickfire tree followed Luis instructions just cut off the old flower heads... In sun all day, live just north of Boston

Thanks, Luis, for Bombshell info. I was looking for a hydrangea that I could use in a container this summer. I may try to find Let's Dance Moonlight instead. I used it for a couple of summers & overwintered it in the container in our garage. It was a great bloomer, beautiful. I think I let it dry out one winter & lost it. Hyed, you have increased my appetite for an Incrediball! It is GORGEOUS! Thanks for both pictures! This is/was my Let's Dance Moonlight.

FYI Google Heidi horticulture Annabelle. Leaftier Moth

Thanks! Just googled leaftier moth. Good to know!

Is there a way to turn vertical picture upright on this site?

Proven Winners' BoBo might be superior to Bombshell. But Bombshell is normally more numerous and cheaper (as it is only patented and not licensed (or v.v.?)).

I think you're right about Bobo vs Bombshell. Have been doing some additional research. Thanks!