Paniculatas are a good choice and come in a wide range of forms and sizes. But I would avoid planting any hydrangeas in a full on southern exposure - too much sun.

And I only have one panicle hydrangea (lots of macs and serratas) but the deer will routinely nip off the flowerheads on any of them unless I spray. YMMV

I don’t know how much farther south you are than I am but my paniculatas do just fine in all day sun. As GG 48 said, YMMV on this, so I would look around and ask at good nurseries to see how panicled hydrangeas do in full sun in your area.

Hydrangea paniculatas vary in size by cultivar, from about 4’ in all directions to 12’ or so. They tend to be at least as wide as tall, and aren’t successfully controlled in size by pruning since they regrow quickly, so choose one that will grow to the size you want. If you want a taller one, you will want to make your bed deeper, front to back.

Babs, they grow here too in open sun. But open sun is very different from the double whammy of full afternoon sun and any reflected sun/heat from a southern exposure foundation planting. But have no personal knowledge of how strong that could be in IA :-)

I was thinking about Quick Fire because it is an early bloomer; however, limelight is another I seem to keep going back to. Anyone have experience or insight on one of these?

I have and love both..yours would be prettier than mine..mine are growing in shade because I have a wooded lot..I'm still glad that I bought them..I see bigger ones with more blooms growing here in full sun..

Depends on the look you want. Limelight has huge densely packed, voluptuous bloom panicles that can weight enough at times that the branch ends can get pulled sideways. Late season color is more of a pale pink to tan and the bloom starts about 3 weeks after Quickfire here. There are tons of on line photos of its chartreusey cream color, but in the linked thread, there are some photos of the same hedge showing growth over time, posted by “unprofessional”.

[https://www.houzz.com/discussions/how-are-those-limelight-hedges-looking-pic-dsvw-vd~1992345?n=114[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/how-are-those-limelight-hedges-looking-pic-dsvw-vd~1992345?n=114)

I am partial to the lacy look of Quickfire. The lighter panicles don’t droop at all. Here it blooms from the beginning of July until frost, first white, then light peachy pink and ending the season with a deep rich pink in my garden.

early July with Clematis Little Bas

mid-August

From Labor Day until frost

Both will perform well IME, so which you choose will depend on the look and of course the size you want. Both get to something like 8’-9’ in all directions, so they need quite a bit of space. If those are too big, check out Little Lime and Little Quickfire or the smallest, Bobo.

If you want to go with a larger cultivar Limelight or little lamb would be your easiest bet. Easy growth and very reliable blooming and performance .

Hydrangea vanilla strawberry is large and can be beautiful , but it can fail to change color which ends up being a big Disappointment.

Quickfire has lacier flower and is less showy.

little lime is a dwarf limelight , so if you like limelight but don’t want it to get massive little lime is an option.

I like “Endless Summer” Hydrangeas. They will blossom on old and new growth. I have seven of them and all are doing well. Nice thing about them is you can trim to your hearts content and it does not phase them. I’m in the Pacific Northwest zone 8B.

Endless Summer probably won’t bloom in IA, or would require heavy winter protection to have a chance.

Jalarse, you are fortunate to live in a part of the US where big leaf hydrangeas like Endless Summer do well. In much of the country, the overwintered flower buds are killed either by cold winter temperatures or late spring freezes, so the spring bloom is nonexist and the late summer bloom is iffy because the plant has had to regrow all the stems that were winter killed. I typically get about 5 flowers from mine.

And guyground, we will have to disagree on the “less showy” aspect of Quickfire. Different, yes, but IMO far from less. Kind of like comparing Elizabeth Taylor in her prime to Emma Watson; both are beautiful but in radically different ways.

If the east side receives all morning sun with nothing shading it that would be a good spot for any of the Endless Summer Hydrangeas. For me Bloomstruck performs best in my dry sandy soils. Very wilt resistant.

I would suggest you look into paniculata White Diamonds. I am in zone 5 Chicago area and have tried several different paniculatas. The one that looks the best is a White Diamonds that is getting more or less full sun. It is not next to a building so I can't comment on that.

As guyground said above, it is unlikely that any big leaf hydrangea, whether Endless Summer or Bloomstruck or any other, will do well in IA. Bloom is likely to be unreliable in spring between cold winter temperatures and late winter or spring freezes, and if there has been much winter kill of stems, bloom may not be great on new wood. They do well in coastal area where temperature extremes are mitigated by water but tend to do less well midcontinent and in colder areas.

I live in Minnesota and am quite familar with the Endless Summer collection of hydrangeas. I think Bloomstruck is the best of the bunch and stand by my recommendation.

All Macs are risky in Northern climates. Anyone considering one should be aware of this risk. One way to gauge is to look around your area. See what other people have that bloom well / don't bloom well. A lot can be gleaned merely by observation.

Guyground Out.

I also have White Diamonds and it has similarly textured flowers to Quickfire, lacier than many paniculatas. However, instead of developing that rich pink color as the season progresses, it stays white in my garden until some time in September, when it gets the faintest hint of pink. It also is smaller than Quickfire, getting to about 5’-6’ in all directions vs. Quickfire’s 8’-9’ in all directions.

There are so many different hydrangeas--even among the paniculatas. My white diamonds start turning pink in early August and evolve into a dark dusty rose color. I wasn't able to find a photo that showed this properly.

Where are you generally located, Nancy? Your experience with White Diamonds is really different from mine here in central NH, and this is one species of plant where the color change seems really dependent on growing conditions.

Mine in late September, the creamy pale pink flowers at the front of the photo

October 7, just a bit more color, but much less pink than my other paniculata. (Quickfire, Pinky Winky, and Fire Light)

Hi NHBabs, I am 25 miles NW of downtown Chicago. One thing I'm pretty sure of is that our soil here is much more alkaline than yours. I grew up in Connecticut, and I remember my father sprinkling lime on the lawn. Here we have too much. I wonder if that could make a difference.

Incidentally, I have some Pinky Winkys too. They bloom, but not as well as I would like, because they are getting a fair amount of shade nowadays. My trees just keep getting bigger. In retrospect, I should have gotten something in the Annabelle family for that area.

Thanks, Nancy. I would expect IA soils and climate to be far more similar to yours than to mine, so this may help others with their choices.