Yeah, Ken, my guess also was paniculata because I don't any other hydrangeas in the northeast that grow that big.

Personally, I find roses to be high maintenance plants. Though beautiful when grown well, they are subject to numerous diseases and bugs. And like most perennials/shrubs, yes they will look scruffy if dead flowers and leaves are not removed. (Which then brings you to the "fun" of dealing with the thorns.) This is simply what one accepts with any flowering shrub. Have you considered Hibiscus syriacus, aka Rose of Sharon? If you are unfamiliar with them, it is a specie of winter hardy hibiscus. Without trimming, and depending on the cultivar they can get 6-10feet tall and most of the ones I've seen get about 3 or 4 ft wide. (The one at my folks' place in northern Michigan has never gotten over 7 ft and they have never trimmed it.) They come in whites, pinks, reds, lavenders, "blues" (which really aren't) and bullseyes (white or pink with a red bullseye in the middle). My sis has a beautiful pure white one which also has never gotten over 7ft tall. Neither she nor my folks have found it to be at all bug or disease prone, and hummingbirds like them. (If you'd really like to do this on the cheap, and if you don't mind waiting a few years, you can grow them from seed. The one at my folks' is one I started from seed. It's been a long time, but if memory serves, it reached 4 or 5 ft by its 3rd or 4th year.) Flowers only last a day or two but healthy happy plants produce new flowers most of the summer into fall.

" Am curious whether Pistachio actually looks good or does well " Pistachio is not a winner for me, so far. I've admired blooming plants in garden centers for years, so much so that I've suggested them for design clients. I planted one last fall in my current Oregon garden and the flowers this first summer are 99.9% green, and not a bright chartreuse green, nearly the same color as the foliage, so they completely disappear. I did add aluminum sulfate to the soil, thinking it would improve the purple colors, along with all of my other hydrangeas, which were spectacular this season. Not sure if the AS caused my green flowers or if there is some other explanation. My plant is in the ground, I'm assuming yours is in a container, Pam? I wonder it that has anything to do with your good results? Other than Pistachio all of the others were incredible this summer, the best probably being 'Spike', a macrophylla. He went from bright, true blue, to nearly all green, to pale purple and now magenta with blue-violet highlights. And no matter when I cut flowers, they always kept their color and very heavy, "meaty" substance.

BM, I am glad you were able to find the photo of my Bobo hedge. I grow several macrophyllas in the ground in a shaded area of my garden and also in containers which I place in another shaded area. I grow several varieties of Endless Summer hydrangeas such as Bloomstruck and Blushing Bride in containers, but have selected several smaller varieties like Pop Star more recently. Just know that you need acidic soil in the ground and in the potting mix (if in a container) for some macrophylla varieties to give you blue blooms so you would have to add an acidifier. So do some research before selecting the variety of mac.