Oakleaf sun tolerance - how much is too much?

Hi, I am fairly new to hydrangeas and to this forum. I recently purchased a Pee Wee oakleaf, and am in a bit of a quandary as to where to plant it. I have heard that the oakleaf is more sun tolerant than the others. Would 2 to 3 hours of afternoon sun be too much? Would dappled afternoon sun be acceptable? I have not planted the little guy yet but am thinking about a spot that gets dappled morning and mid day sun and a couple of hours of afternoon sun. I am a little leery of this location, though! My neighbor has one that is in almost complete shade and is clearly getting too little sun. Thanks in advance for any help you all are willing to give!!

I am by no means an expert, but I do have 2 Pee Wee's. They are both planted in my partial shade garden. One is 3 years old and gets 3 to 4 hours of morning sun and then dappled sun. My new one, purchased last month gets the same but 2 hours of direct sunlight from about 4 PM in addition. They are both doing great.

I was told sun to partial sun for planting. I am in zone 6a and maybe that would make a difference, but I think your thoughts about planting it would be fine. Some sun should be fine as long as it is not hours of intense mid-day sun.

Good luck with them. I love them, an oakleaf hydrangea the right size for me. I also have Little Honey...very little still but great chartreuse color all summer.

I think the Oakleaf Hydrangea is sun tolerant but I really don't think they like full sun. What it isn't tolerant of is "wet feet" so whatever site you choose, you might want to make sure it is not moist or this plant may rot in the ground. It does like a lot of water but it likes good drainage based on my personal experiences of having killed a few. I didn't realize it at the time until I dug them up to pitch them but their root systems failed and I would attribute the failure of my plants to overwatering in a low lying site. If you want to look up more information on this really great southeastern North American native shrub, use the Latin name- Hydrangea quercifolia. The 'Pee Wee' mentioned above is a cultivar of the straight species. I love the 'Pee Wee' too.

I have one straight species growing in part/dappled shade, one growing in part sun (morning), and one growing in part sun (afternoon). The plant growing in part/dappled shade is doing the best however the color of the plant growing in part sun (afternoon) is the best. I'd say your site is fine as long as it has good drainage.

Thanks, everyone for sharing all the great info! I appreciate everyone's input. This weekend I am going to plant my pee wee and if it's not happy, I'll move it! I am sure I will have more questions for you soon. Thanks again!