let me preface this post by saying i have a fenced yard, so i'm deer-proof :) i grow both camellias and hydrangeas. camellias: i've planted varieties that give me bloom from late august through late april. they're planted in all kinds of exposures, from full shade to half-day full sun - depending on the type. very generally speaking, sasanquas can handle more sun than japonicas - i'm sure this statement will elicit some disagreement, but it's my own rule of thumb based on experience. japonicas can grow to be quite tall/wide - i have a ten year old that is over 20' tall x 10' wide. sasanquas tend to be more shrub-like in form. a mature "shishigashira" will be 5'x5'. i've found camellias very easy to grow - they like good drainage and rich soil (i use leaf compost). i highly recommend that you check out camellia forest nursery here in chapel hill - they've got a great website camforest.com hydrangeas: i have the oakleaf - blooms in early summer, upright white panicles, burgundy fall/winter foliage. i love the foliage on this one. it's in a part-sun location on woods edge. i have hydrangea paniculata "tardiva" - a late summer/fall bloomer, long white panicles that are great for both cut & dried arrangements. i leave the blooms on them for "winter interest". these are scattered around my yard in all exposures from nearly full-sun to part shade. they're fast growers and get quite large - i have one that's 15' tall. i've read that they can be trained to tree form. i have several varieties of hydrangea macrophylla, also easy to grow. i tend give these more shade, particularly from afternoon sun, than the oakleaf or tardiva, and need regular watering during dry periods. hydrangeas are very easy to start from cuttings & i've had great success expanding my numbers this way.

I agree completely with mxk..Annabelle would be my pick for your location...super hardy, bloom on new woods, never fail in blooms, huge showy flowers, right amount of sun, you can practically cut Annabelle down to a 3-5 inches of stems and will grow back to 3 ft in one season and bloom..as for quick fire, I have one in the garden, i like it but it is a giant...and a very fast grower (and I have annabelles to compare)..I put this plant in the sunniest spot for all my hydrangeas, get about 5 hrs of sun (9 am to 2 pm) then cast over by some shade from a nearby building...dont have problems with flower production..my QF is almost 7 feet tall and 5 ft wide...it takes a LOT of space...you will never find the ES and other mopheads this big and can tolerate that much sun...Annabelles can get really big but if you cut it down every season, you can keep it at 4X4 or so...I think a zone 5, with NE winter exposure is tough even for ES to winterize - a lot of flower buds will die from winter burn...and in spring, the plant maynot get enough sunlight to bloom if the location has only 2-3 hrs of sun..would go for Annabelle for sure...and yes, there are two exciting new Annabelles to release in the mkt by 2010...the incrediball and the invicibelle...incrediball is supposed to have enormous flower head (size of a basketball)...and invicibelle will have smaller flower heads and bloom in pink...all annabelles, up to now, are white...so i think you will have a lot of options coming 2010..keep an eye on these plants when to come to a garden center near you.

Protecting hydrangeas from the westerly sun is a good idea. Paniculatas (large and later blooming hydrangeas) could take full sun and at the same time will provide shade for the smaller and earlier blooming macrophillas and serratas. Hydrangeas wouldn't mind to have an extra water, especially in a middle of the summer, but they are not a swamp plants and there shouldn't be big cultural differences between them and other 'normal' plants. I grow them with azaleas/rhododendrons, hollies, junipers, leucothoe, forsythias, cherry laurel, viburnums, conifers etc etc. As you can see all this a pretty wide spectrum of water preferences, but hydrangeas are happy in every location for as long as they well watered and established. Silvergold, some great combos you have there. I especially like V. trilobum + Limelight combo.

No I don't cover them, too lazy :). I do mulch around them pretty heavy in the fall, and they are well mulched through the summer too. I don't cut them back till spring, and most years I wind up cutting them near the ground. If I protected them, I'm guessing in a mild year like this year I might have some live canes left that would bloom earlier. I usually scoop some rose tone or holly tone on them when I'm doing the roses and other stuff. They might get some miracle grow or fish fertilizer if I'm spraying it, but not till they have buds set.