I don't have this plant but Dave's garden says it is deciduous so it will die back. FYI

I think deciduous just means that it looses its leaves in the fall/winter, and that's okay with me. Some deciduous shrubs (such as Hydrangea Endless Summer) die back to the ground every year in my zone 5 garden, and others (such as Hydrangea Paniculata) lose their leaves when the frosts set in, but start leafing out on the old wood in the spring.

Because they'll be going in such a prominent spot, I definitely want something that doesn't die all the way to the ground. I've seen some in my area and they leaf out from their old wood in the spring, so I'm not worried that they'll die back to the ground and leave me with empty looking planting beds until summer (which is what I'm currently dealing with). I just haven't seen any planted in rows as a foundation planting, so I'd love to hear from anyone who has a hedge of them, especially north facing.