"I should have looked online first, and researched the shrub, before planting it."

That is a very sensible move regardless of what the plant is. It saves a lot of trial and error and needless $$.

sure.. but i remember my experiments.. longer than i recall WWW research ...

ken

I don't think I'll ever be able to have a Hydrangea, since I don't have an area on my property that doesn't get full sun, meaning 6 hours a day of direct sunlight.

I just never heard of a shrub that blooms that didn't like direct sun. Who knew? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I'm considering adding a Cityline hydrangea, probably Paris. They're mostly described as sun to part sun, so now I wonder if that description is overly optimistic.

I would suggest yes it's too optimistic. They have large thin leaves that transpire a lot of water in sun, and on a hot day they go limp, not attractive to my eye. If they aren't given enough water, the leaves of big-leaf hydrangeas (H. macrophylla) brown around the edges, but they don't like soggy soil. So it's easiest to give them afternoon shade and morning sun which allows them enough sun to bloom but is less stressful a growing situation.

Be aware that as far as I can tell, the Cityline Hydrangeas only bloom on the previous year's wood, so if there's a harsh winter or a late frost, they won't bloom at all for that year unless you have protected them. Someone may correct me as to whether they bloom on current year wood, but usually when they do, it is well-advertised, and since I haven't seen any references to reblooming, I've avoided this series since I always lose the previous year's growth.

Lots of flowering shrubs prefer shade or at least part day shade - hydrangeas, clethra, fothergilla, camellias, rhododedrons and azaleas, kerria, just to name a few. In general, all hydrangea species are at best part shade plants although the paniculatas will tolerate quite a lot of sun in cooler summer climates.

Bab's is correct - the Cityline series are not remontant (rebloomers) - they just have a very compact habit compared to most big leaf hydrangeas (H. macrophylla).

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to look for something else for my full-sun garden. In the meantime, I've crossed off the Cityline for my east side of house garden, due to the winter care requirements. Instead, it will be either a Flame Creeper azalea or a Tuff Stuff hydrangea, as I already have two of each of those in that section.

Given the Tuff Stuff (and Tiny Tuff Stuff), I wonder what makes anyone plant a Cityline this far north? Just the color options? Shape?