(Wow, anyone up for helping with the Hydrangea Symposium 2012?!!)

We're mostly just hydrangea fans and leisurely gardeners here - not so much experts. We would all like to help, though.

For total production here in the US, you might want to consult the US Department of Agriculture. Otherwise Dr. Michael Dirr of University of Georgia might have easier access to records like this. I would say most are produced by large greenhouse companies, or large independent growers/contractors.

The most common species available here at RETAIL are macrophylla, followed closely by paniculata, and then serrata (found at home improvement, department, and grocery stores). Arborescens and Quercifolia are easily found, but usually only at smaller family-owned nurseries.

Mass-marketing is fairly limited to just a few brand names - Endless Summer Collection, Forever & Ever (US), and Proven Winners. If you are a collector and want rarer specimens, you need to order from or personally visit nurseries that specialize in hydrangeas (Hydrangeas Plus, Wilkerson Mills, Nantucket Hydrangea Farm, Wayside Garden Center, etc).

What I would like to see in future characteristics of hydrangeas is (on REBLOOMING / NEW WOOD BLOOMING specimens only):
- wider variety of colors
- wider variety of foliage color and texture
- wider variety of sizes

Marketwise, we might want to see:
- more brand competition. We need to see companies like Plants Nouveau, etc. as widely as we do Endless Summer, F&E, etc.

As far as intoductions new to the US, I believe most of what has been bred in places such as Japan, Netherlands, etc. has already made it here. If you visit websites such as Esveld.nl, they have a large archive that seems to indicate that most of what's out there has been shared between US growers/breeders and their international counterparts, although (as mentioned earlier) not a lot has made it to retail.

I hope that helps!

Here is a link that might be useful: International Symposium Hydrangea 2012

I would echo much of what Springwood mentioned.

Another one to mention is fall color. There are a couple cultivars that tend to get nice color and most others that are poor.

The pink/red in many of the H. paniculatas tend to be washed out or salmon color looking. A more vibrant pink/red would be nice. All the marketing photos show off vibrant colors but I've yet to see it at the garden center or in my own garden.

Hydrangea and Viburnums are by far the greatest shrub genus on the planet!

I echo/agree with what has been mentioned.

My top 3 desirable characteristics I would like to see improved on are:

1.More offered in compact sizes
2.More rebloomers (although every year there are more on the market, just being greedy...lol)
3. Fall Color

Its pretty amazing over the last decade or so how many new species they have brought to market. I am personally very pleased with the leaps and bounds they have made with Hydrangeas as of late!