Which Hydrangea are you asking about? If you're unsure of the variety, is it deciduous, evergreen, a climber or a shrub?

Just curious, what is considered a terrible summer in Scotland? Thank You

The reason hydrangeas prefer a bit of shade, especially in the afternoons, is because they don't like dry soil conditions, so a south facing position with lots of sun exposure usually means the soil dries out too much for them. So its more about the soil than it is about the actual sunlight levels - if your sunnier back garden still has damp soil conditions, and you incorporate plenty of well rotted compost into the area first, it should be fine. Hydrangeas are usually recommended for shady conditions simply because they tolerate the lack of sunlight quite well, still flowering regardless - but a lot of 'shade' plants are described that way because they need damper soil, not because they can't tolerate sun, Camellia being a good example of that.

That's interesting Bamboo. I recently moved a lovely Camellia from a large pot on the front porch (where it had been for several years) into the garden. Facing the same way but not happy. I thought it was too much early sun but maybe lack of damp soil.

Ginellie - might be just that its more exposed in the garden than it was on the front porch, and its had exposure to some pretty cold temperatures at nights in the last few weeks (not now though, obviously!), but keep it well watered anyway for now, it'll take a while to put out new roots that aren't pot shaped...

Hi everyone please accept my apologies for the delay in my reply. I appreciate everyone's input on this. It is the Macrophylla Hydrangea and it's the mophead variety. I have actually kept it in a large pot in the planned final planting spot and it has held up well in the week long heat we have had here. I am hopeful that it should be fine.

Bamboo: thank you for that as you basically conformed my suspicion on this matter as I did think this was more a case of soil drying out rather than sunlight. My soil seems to hold up pretty well even in the hottest summers with moisture but to be safe I usually give a deep watering weekly and keep on top of any soil surface that may dry out.

Loosestrife2 not sure where you are but people tend to complain that Scottish summers are quite crappy. They can be but we usually joke that you can tell when it's summer in Scotland as the rain gets warmer. We are quite varied as we can have scorching days and then a few days break where it rains and can be quite cool. We just seem to be consistently unpredictable in summer really.

We have been quite lucky lately with a lot of sun. Back to the Hydrangea though, it seems to be flourishing really well with lots of healthy bushy new growth, lovely green leaves and the buds are growing so I think the longer sun exposure is helping with that. I also have the Hydrangea dark Angel in my front garden that looks lovely and lush with is darkened foliage. Can't wait to see that flower this year as that was a new purchase last year :)

Thank you very much for your reply Raglanv. Best Regards: Loosestrife.

No problem, you're welcome and thank you Loosestrife :)