Can you make any modifications to the sun amount by trimming nearby branches, for instance? If you can get a bit more sun or the shade is really bright such as the north wall of a house with nothing overhanging, H paniculata varieties will work well, though not be as dense as if grown in full sun. There's a wide range of plant size from 3' or so to more than 10', and mostly have conical blooms, though some are more rounded.

If not, I have found that H. serrata Tuff Stuff has bloomed well for me even after being killed to the ground. H. macrophylla Twist and Shout has also done well. Both are lace caps, so more flat than others.

Do a bit of research at arboreta and botanical gardens in your area as to how oak leaf Hydrangeas do - they will survive, but I don't know if the flower buds are likely to be an issue with winter or late spring freezes. I think they may be OK, and the bonus is really nice fall foliage color. There's a range of plant size on these also.

H. arborescens such as Annabelle will be fine and bloom well in that area as long as you can water when needed.

Try a medium sized hydrangea paniculata or H arborescens or Quercifolia (oakleaf). You'd be stuck with mostly whites or pinks though. I'd personally recommend H paniculata Little Lime or Vanilla Strawberry. Both do just fine in semi-shade. Some good Oakleafs are Sikes Dwarf, Ruby Slippers, etc.

NHBabs, thank you!

Unfortunately two trees from our neighbors cast shadow on both our and their backyards. We do have a precious few sunny spots but we already planted a lilac on one and the other is a bit larger to accommodate perhaps a crabapple or some larger shrub such as forsythia. We have a climbing hydrangea that previous house owners planted in front of the house which is sunny and it's so lovely that we decided to keep it. But I would love to have hydrangea in the back area as well.

Our climbing hydrangea has a very pretty fall color and I wasn't aware that some h. bushes also have attractive fall foliage. That's surely the bonus for oakleaf h.

I saw the photo of Annabelle and it's exactly how I envision my "ideal" hydrangea but am wondering how much sun it needs.

Wonderful suggestions, springwood_gardens.Thank you so much. This forum is a gardening treasure.

Annabelle would be fine with your sun levels.

vesfl - I second NHBabs idea. I grow 3 Annabelles in "bright" dappled shade - they are gorgeous and probably since they get no direct sun, I don't need to water them so frequently. They are reliable every year despite harsh winters since they grow on new wood.

Another advantage to canopies for Annabelle is that heavy rains won't be quite as likely to beat the plant down to the point of flopping or even worse, stems bending in half or breaking...

Mary G., thank you! We can't wait to find Annabelle at our local nursery.

Springwood, many thanks for this additional tip. It's serendipitous that the planting spot is exactly under the overarching branches from our neighbor's tree.

On good advice here, I got ’Annabelle’ and already planted it (it’s in the attached photo). Now I’m just praying that it will not have any major transplanting shock because it’s truly beautiful. I love it!

Looks lovely! Maybe a little too close to that hosta, though. : o

hl_60, I planted 2 hostas near 'Annabelle' to support its stems if they start drooping. I better move them if they are too close and they will indeed grow to a medium size ('Francee'). Thank you.

I see. Stakes are one common method for drooping hydrangeas. I'd worry Francee won't get tall enough to support Annabelle.

If anything, the hosta root balls should help prevent the Annabelle clump from getting too large. Keep old Annabelle stems cut to 18-24" in the off-season and try tying a ring of twine (lasso) around the stems before they leaf out. But the old woodier stems alone should help the plant stay more upright.

NHBabs, your 'Annabelle' and spirea look GORGEOUS. I can see how the spirea is struggling for its space but it looks like it's under control now. What beautiful and abundant blooms!

I'll definitely move hostas away from 'Annabelle' tomorrow. I would still like to have them somewhere in that area because I thought variegated leaves of hostas nicely combine with Annabelle's white blooms, but they will have to be much farther away from it or else will be smothered. I've again learned quite a lot from all of you, for which I cannot thank you enough.

I will try to remember to post again when Annabelle blooms this summer.

I agree that the hosta will just get buried--better to move it now and come up with a system of staking. The first few years with my Annabelles I used a double system: peony ring on the inside (so it would grow through it in the spring), staking with small green stakes and green string on the outside. Easy and subtle. Then it outgrew that system, so I put up a ring of green wire garden fencing (see photo of the roll below). If you install it next spring before it leafs out, the branches will grow through it and hide it, and it can just stay year to year. By this time of the summer it's starting to become invisible and nothing flops at all!

Here are some photos from just now. The garden looks wild in the harsh noon light but you can get a sense of how it stays upright and neat. In the wide shot the Annabelle is at the very end of the garden.

Your border is beautiful, lalala. And the fence around 'Annabelle' cannot be seen at all! Is there any specific height that you would recommend for fencing?

As I am learning from these very helpful suggestions, the best way to deal with drooping is in proper offseason planning. I'll also prune it at the height that springwood_garden recommends.

My fencing is about 3' tall. You may not need something quite that tall in the first year or two. For this summer, if it flops in the rain, I'd do just a simple string-and-stake system.

I pruned mine way back this past spring before I put the fencing in, which allowed me to nestle the fencing closer to the interior of the plant. Pruning also helps if the plant gets lopsided or if stems are broken by winter snow--mine gets more sun from one side so leaned that way over the years, and pruning evened it back out. Some years I haven't gotten around to pruning it all all, though, and it still looked great. It will leaf out on the old wood and produce gigantic flowers if you don't prune; more/smaller (but still impressive) flowers if you do prune. Some people find that not pruning results in sturdier/woodier stems that don't flop as much. The good news is that Annabelle is extremely forgiving, so you can experiment and see what works best for you!

Excellent tips, everyone!

I would suggest Vanilla Strawberry. I planted 2 last month. One in full sun 5h and the other receives only 3h of direct afternoon sun. Both are happy and have many buds right now.