The location that gets half a day of sun should give you the best results.

That is what I thought. I will have to dig up a daylily to make room but it will be worth it. Hydrangea trumps a daylily. :-)

If there's room you can even use daylily foliage to shade the soil around the hydrangeas.

Beyond that, people out there please check your local nurseries for 2-3 gallon pots of Tiny Tuff Stuff. I've seen these at more than a few!

I looked in town first but did not find it. I try to shop local when I can.

Springwood_gardens, Tiny Tuff Stuff is very pretty, but it was horrible in my zone 5a/b. The nurseries here are full of them! I just don't want to spend $40 to have it die during the winter:(

NHBabs, good to know. Soil is a huge game changer and although my soil hasn't failed me so far, it may not agree with all hydrangeas. I do amend it with compost soil and peat before planting, but unfortunately we are clay land.

Where are you generally in zone 5 Manure83 - midwest somewhere?

My soil is quite acid and fine sandy loam that in most spots drains well.

I too am in 'clay land' but the hydrangeas have not complained. Some are in amended soil and others are in un-amended soil. I do add compost sometimes as fertilizer so maybe it is not a heavy clayish type of soil.

I'll second trying regular Tuff Stuff if the Tiny version fails. It's by far the most vigorous growing serrata I've ever seen. Mine was a 2-gallon in 2013 and now has about 50 old wood stems with growth/buds and 50 new ones with and without buds. It's so wide I can make three to four 3-gallons out of it now.

I hope the TTS will be a good grower also

Please report back as to how it does. I've looked at this one and would love to have some feedback.

Will let you know. I picked TTS because I did not have much room so am keeping my fingers crossed that it will do well.

NHBabs, northwest of Chicago. Like Luis, I add compost and fertilizer, but some hydrangeas even if deemed zone 5, just refuse to make it more than one season (Abracadabra Star was one). I bought All Summer Beauty online because it's impossible to find at a nursery here and my friend swears by the abundant blooms of it. My first time ordering and they are LITTLE!! Hoping these can be companions to my endless summer or I'm going to have to go with a small paniculata or oak leaf.