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These are truly four season plants and if you are gardening where they will grow and don't have one in your shade garden, put it right up there at the top of your list.
Hydrangea paniculata
Hydrangea paniculata, the panicle or Pee Gee hydrangea is a species that I don't have...yet.
It's also know by two synonyms: H. paniculata var. intermedia and H. paniculata var. praecox [= H. paniculata 'Praecox'].
Native to Japan and China, it was introduced to US gardens in 1861. It's extremely cold hardy, even to USDA Zone 3 (-40ºF or C) . It can be grown as a shrub or a tree and can reach thirty-five feet (10.66 m) in height, depending on pruning.
These hydrangeas perform best, so I have read, where they get some direct sun. They bloom on new wood and can be cut back hard in late winter / early spring to keep them more compact and cause them to produce larger flowers.
Leaves are from three to six inches (7.61 - 15.23 cm) long and one and a half to three inches (3.80 - 7.61 cm) wide.
The undersides are covered with soft, bristly hairs (setose pubescent), particularly along the veins - you can get a glimpse of this on the leaf behind the central one, which is turned to show the underside.
Sometimes a tinge of yellow or purple occurs in fall, but nothing spectacular.
Stems can be interesting, especially older ones, which often peel (exfoliate).
Flowers are white, changing to purplish pink and begin in mid summer. The pyramidal panicles, from six to eight inches (15.23 - 20.31 cm) long are almost as wide at the base. Yellowish-white fertile flowers predominate, with sparse, showy sterile flowers.
Cultivars
There are several cultivars available that improve on the species, developed with varying flower sizes and bloom times. 'Praecox' is the earliest, flowering in early
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