There are a few considerations: lowest winter temperatures, wind, sun exposure, and soil. Since the front yard faces the ocean, the wind and blown salt spray may be an issue. There is a lot of coast in New England and depending where you are, there may be winter kill of buds if it gets cold enough. Hydrangea macrophylla, big leafed hydrangea, which have large delicate leaves would be more susceptible to wind damage, and since they are less winter hardy they are more likely to have bloom buds killed if you are in one of the cooler areas of the New England coast. I would most likely use H. paniculata, panicled hydrangea since its leaves are more resilient and it is more sun and cold tolerant. They range in height from about 4 feet to over 15', so you can choose one that would work for you. They start out chartreuse to white and over the course of a couple of months they change to pink, with the intensity of the pink varying with growing conditions and location. My Quickfire is about 7' tall, and blooms all summer from late June/early July until freeze in late October. Some start blooming later than QF, but all have at least a couple months of bloom.

However, big leaf hydrangeas (the lovely blue ones) are traditional on Cape Cod, so you could ask on the New England forum for folks' actual experience. Be sure to give details on amount of sun in this area as well as direction the house faces, your USDA planting zone, and if you are comfortable giving your town or a close by town name, it will help you get less general information. Some only have spring blooms, but other will continue blooming over the summer.

Thanks. We are North of Boston facing Northeast. Yeah, into the storm winds.

Hydrangeas do very well in this town in general. But it is the wind I'm worried about . I can't get an azalea to last over winter. And the also do very well in this town in general.

I would call the folks at Hydrangea Farm and discuss. They recently moved operations from Nantucket Island to Cape Cod. They are currently upgrading their operations and were planning to temporarily stop selling plants until their transplanted hydrangea shrubbery grew more and became established. While they may or may not be selling plants, they might be able to take calls and discuss options; call Mal 508-221-8206 or Mary Kay at 508-221-8281

Hydrangea paniculatas and any of the "Annabelle" hydrangeas, should do well there. BTW, your house is beautiful!!