There are other varieties of Annabelle like Hayes Starburst, Green Dragon, Radiata, White Dome. Proven Winners also has new ones.

And some of the older selections of paniculata - 'White Moth', 'Unique', 'Brussels Lace', 'Tardiva' - do not develop deep pink tones. Just a hint of blush pink or a pale rose tone and not until quite late in the season.

It seems most of the newer intros to the market have focused on developing those pink/red tones early and intensely. Which is one reason I do not grow them as I really dislike the color pink anywhere :-)

Many thanks. So nice to get suggestions.

Tickled pink hydrangea

my not be as intense as others.

Great mids think alike! I considered that one, TP, too but crossed it out after seeing this picture:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/406872147558292694/

The original paniculata pee gee gets pink when the weather cools. They all do it, perhaps limelight least so. Or little lime for smaller space.

White Diamond is a light creamy pink in my garden. It is 2 or 3 years in my garden. This isn’t the greatest photo, but this is its color as of this last week, It’s the creamy flowers at the front of the photo.

Yes, all paniculatas age to pink. But it is the intensity of the pinkness that is at issue and at what point in the season they start developing that color.

WOW Babs what a great picture... you really do have a lot of land... love it

Nice to see so many new interesting varieties coming along. Hopefully they don't have the aggressive nature of Annabelle. I guess what I find with the ones that go to dark pink (and some quickly) is that they lose that "fresh" appeal of light and or bright against the dark contrast of foliage.

I find my Quickfire appealing regardless of color. Both the white and then the various shade of pink stand out well, even on cloudy day.

Here is my White Diamond today. It has developed a bit more rose color, but this cultivar was selected for how long its panicles remain a bright white shading in late summer to cream.

Tickled pink and I've never seen them that deeper red color ever. They do turn a Dusty pink but it's fairly late in the season as they don't even Bloom until June which is later than other ones such as L A Dreamin or Annabelle.

That’s very true , a lot of people make the mistake of going by pictures, but often the pictures are manipulated

Having gone through the first season that had a significant number of blooms plus two or three earlier seasons with fewer blooms, I think the photo I posted last of White Diamond is as dark as that cultivar gets. I live in an area where paniculata tend to develop full, rich color, and the just-barely-pink shown above is the darkest it has been. It retained color that was white to cream into October, long after even the most late-turning other paniculatas had turned pink several weeks earlier around here. My memory is that it started blooming in the first half of July, before Pinky Winky, Limelight, and Pee Gee, but after Quickfire. Advertised as a cultivar selected for its long retention of its white color, I think White Diamond lives up well to the advertising. It has flower panicles with the lighter weight panicles similar to Quickfire rather than the heavier panicles of a plant like Vanilla Strawberry. It is also smaller in stature than most of the panicled Hydrangea cultivars, staying around 4’ tall and a bit wider. So far in my garden it has grown quite slowly.

Thanks for the thoughtful description of White Diamond.. Oh, I was under the impression for some reason that it was a taller one. That's good news.

You are welcome. As comparison, at three to four years in my garden from a quite small start, Quickfire was around 5’, whereas White Diamond is still under 3’, and it began a bit larger.

Phantom might suit you. It starts out creamy white and stays that way for some time before taking on a tinge of green. Finally, it turns just the lightest shade of pink in the fall.