Where is the best place to plant hydrangea bushes -- sun, shade, part sun, morning sun, soil type ,etc? THANKS

I've always planted them on the north side of the house. They have bloomed well and seem to tolerate the heat okay. I live in the middle south, zone 6, and they do wilt fast in the very hot (95+) summer but recover quickly when watered.



They are so beautiful and easy to dry, too. When the blooms look like they are starting to fade, cut them with a long stem attached. Hang them upside down in a cool part of your home. I tie a piece of string around the stem and hang from a wooden clothes rack.

It makes for a nice winter arrangement after they've dried.



Also, you have to prune them right after all blooming has stopped. Actually, I've never pruned mine because I like the large, full shrubs.



Good luck!
Where is the best place to plant hydrangea bushes -- sun, shade, part sun, morning sun, soil type ,etc? THANKS
I agree with the answers posted so far: Morning sun in some amounts is OK, but more shade in the afternoon is better than less. They do love water. As to soil, they can tolerate a range of pH, but you can manipulate the color of bloom by acidifying or sweetening their soil. We plant some hydrangea varieties with a large peat moss component in the soil and water with an acidifying fertilizer like MirAcid for blue blooms. Sweeten soil with lime for pink.
Reply:partial shade. it would help to know where you live
Reply:They like some sun, but they do not want a hot sun and they definitely do not like to go dry (though they will recover quickly). Some hydrangeas will tolerate heavy shade, but the general rule is early day sun and sufficient water. Keeping them lightly mulched will help to retain the requisite moisture.



I find that hydrangeas will tolerate most any soil as long as they get sufficient water. (I have one in clayey soil and one in a coastal area with very sandy soil. The one in clayey soil does well and the one in the coastal area does well if watered regularly.)
Reply:North side of your home....they really do much better in partial shade....early morning sun and shade in the pm.....we just planted ours last year. I had a climbing hydrandea planted on the south side of my home in full sun and I had to transplant it this year....moved it to the northeast side of my house and it is doing remarkably better. ........if you are just planting the bush, be sure to give it plenty of water on a regular basis this season so that it can get well established. You'll be amazed next year how much better it will look.
Reply:It really depends where you live. In Georgia hydrangeas are happy with some morning sun and can survive our terrible clay soils with little amending. I have some growing that have to manage with some afternoon sun, but suffer scorching, just a couple of hours are too much.

They need consistant moisture, and don't like to dry out.

All in all though, they are great plants and perform well shady areas.