Hi jbjust, I would suggest that you move them now. ES is very intolerate of too much sun, particularly the first year plant, and the afternoon sun. They will wilte and burn easily without the afternoon shade. I planted a couple ES in early May in a most sunny spot (did not do my homework), had to move them in early June. I am in Chicago and Zone 5. I think your Zone 7 sun will be harder for your ES. I have moved ES successfully in May and in late September. If you move now, just make sure you water them frequently, they will do fine. Do make sure that the new spots have enough shade, try not to have any afternoon sun. Dionel, you should be able to move your hydrangeas now, just make sure you dig as much soil around the root as possible, put them in a pot or I put them in a large garbage bag (only for the root part), and keep them moist and not exposured to sun. And plant them as soon as you can. You should be fine. I had to move some plants last year to another house, left the plants out of ground for a week or so. They all survived and did very well. Good luck, Vivian

" I had it in my head that the quercifolias were hardier and sturdier than the other hydrangeas. " That is correct, they are sturdier and hardier and don't need any protection in z6 as well as in a most of z5 gardens in order to bloom, though in especially harsh winters flower buds might be ocassionaly killed. My comments from above were related only to the FIRST winter after planting, after that it wouldn't/shouldn't need any winter protection beside the point that due to their size it simply could be impractical. In a first two years after the planting they MAY not bloom irregardless of weather conditions, they simply settling in and working on a roots development (re-development if you bought a larger B&B plant). This is exactly the same phenomenum you may see in Rhododendrons when they completely refuse to bloom or bloom just sparsly in a first two years after planting.

Crapola my links do not work. So sorry. Please copy and paste! Jo

I generally plant them where they can grow to their estimated mature size in the plant label or assume 10-12'. That way, I normally do not need to prune much... except for pruning any dead wood zapped during winter or except for deadheading of spent blooms that may still be hanging around... even then, I prefer Mother Nature to do the deadheading. Since LL produces large blooms, it tends to flop after several thunderstorms so that is a reason to minimize pruning. Old wood in the stems makes the stems flop less. Other than that, you could prune stems that cross, you could prune to bring more sunlight into shady areas (this applies more to the tree form or standard Limelights) or you could prune for safety reasons (stems that may cause someone to trip, etc.) For aesthetic reasons, you could also prune stems that for some reason may get very long, compared to all the others around it.