What's the difference between Limelight and Limelight Prime hydrangeas?
Limelight Prime is a smaller plant (4-6' tall compared to 6-8'), and it blooms nearly a month earlier than 'Limelight' does. It offers better foliage coverage for a fuller, more lush look, plus it has significantly sturdier stems, so it holds the flowers high and strong all summer.
'Limelight' – full-sized, green flowers turn burgundy-pink, fairly late to bloom. Little Lime® – dwarf (3-5' tall and wide) version of Limelight; blooms earlier and has better fall color. Little Quick Fire® - dwarf (3-5' tall and wide) version of Quick Fire, early blooming.
Limelight Prime Hydrangea is an improved, more refined 'Limelight', with darker leaves, stronger stems, a more compact habit, and upright growth. It makes a great container plant. The blooms emerge a vivid lime-green and maintain that color until they transition into a bubblegum pink and then a deep punch pink.
Plant in full or part sun in cooler climates. In warm areas, plant with some morning sun and shade during the hottest part of the day.
It has everything you love about the original 'Limelight,' but it's even better. It blooms earlier than 'Limelight' with flowers that start out green and stay green longer in the summer before turning a richer pink in fall.
Endless Summer Hydrangeas live up to their name, blooming massive pink or blue mophead flowers on both old and new wood all summer long. Endless Summer Hydrangeas are unique, taking the traditional hydrangea to the next level.
Hydrangea paniculata is one of the hardiest species; it thrives in Zones 4-8.
Growing zones for Limelight extend from north to south
And, it can do the same through hot, humid Georgia, where temperatures rarely get below 20 F above zero. When fully mature, Limelight reaches 6 to 8 feet in height and spread, with reliable lime-green blooms year after year throughout those growing zones.
You should deadhead throughout the blooming season to keep your hydrangeas looking their beast and encourage new flower growth. However, stop deadheading hydrangea shrubs in mid to late fall, leaving any spent blooms in place.
Choose a sheltered planting site that receives full sun in cool climates or partial sun in warm climates. Start by digging a hole twice the width of your Limelight hydrangea root ball and roughly the same depth of the root ball. Your plant should be just slightly higher than the surrounding soil.
Can Limelight hydrangea take afternoon sun?
This extremely durable, long-lived plant is easy to grow. It likes full sun in cold climates, afternoon shade in warmer ones, but it does require well-drained soils that do not remain soggy for any amount of time. To prune, simply cut back by one-third its total height every spring.
Shade tolerant perennials make excellent partners next to hydrangeas. Some of the best are hostas, ferns, foxglove & coral bells. Many upright hydrangeas create a shady area under their foliage. This is a great location for planting shade-loving hostas.
Oakleaf Hydrangea
The oak-like leaves can grow up to 12 inches wide, and come fall, they transform into a radiant show of red, orange, gold, bronze and purple. In some climates, the colorful display can last into the winter months.
| Botanical | Hydrangea macrophylla 'All Summer Beauty' |
|---|---|
| Exposure | Partial Shade. Hydrangeas benefit from some shade in the middle of the afternoon, especially in hotter regions. |
| Foliage | Lustrous, rich-green |
| Flower | 4-6" - Blue in acid soil; Pink in alkaline soil |
| Bloomtime | All summer |
The easiest thing to do is to pick up a jar of alum at the grocery store (in the spice aisle) and keep it on hand for your cut hydrangeas. As you cut the stems, dip them quickly into the alum jar and then plunge them into a vase or pitcher filled with water.
Some of the most popular reblooming hydrangea cultivars include 'Endless Summer', 'Summer Crush', 'Bloomstruck', 'Blushing Bride', 'Tuff Stuff', and 'Penny Mac'.
Bigleaf Hydrangeas
These are one of the most well-known varieties of hydrangeas. Their large, rounded flower heads are most often pink or blue—and are stand-outs in any garden.
The “beginner” hydrangea, or one that requires the lowest maintenance, are the oakleaf varieties. Not only do they tolerate colder weather and can withstand drought, but they are also more resistant to diseases and pests.
Incrediball hydrangea will make you say WOW - it's an improved version of the garden classic 'Annabelle' hydrangea, but with strong, sturdy stems that don't flop over and extra-large blooms to boot. White flowers begin to appear in mid-summer and open to enormous snowballs, nearly the size of basketballs!
Inadequate or Too Much Sunlight
To bloom, most hydrangeas require at least three to four hours of direct sunlight per day, ideally in the early morning or dappled sunlight in the afternoon. Locations with full afternoon sun are usually too intense. Both too little and too much sunlight can affect blooming.
How tall do Limelight hydrangea get?
'Limelight' is a slightly more compact cultivar that typically grows to 6-8' tall and as wide. It is noted for producing large, dense, upright, cone-shaped panicles (to 8” across) of mostly sterile flowers that change color on the shrub as they mature.
Pruning promotes growth that maximizes the opportunity for good blooming. A Limelight left to its own devices will have lots of growth on the top that eventually results in leggy and leafless lower branches. Big shrubs do and will grow big.
During the first year of planting, make sure the soil is always properly watered. Depending on the climate and type of soil, you may need to water your Limelight Hydrangea at least 2-3 times a week. Once established, the plants are tolerant of dry soil but do prefer some moisture. White blooms from our previous home.
We spaced each limelight hydrangea about 3 feet apart (center of plant to center of plant), starting about 3 feet away from our house. I chose limelights because after researching many different options, limelights promised the quickest growth, and the least amount of maintenance.
'Limelight' is a speedy grower that will top out at 6 to 8 feet so be sure to give it plenty of room. Choose a site that has light shade to partial sun. Too much shade will result in reduced bloom production. In cool climates you can even plant 'Limelight' in full sun.
Limelights can grow up to 8 feet (2.4 metres) or more in four to five years if they're not pruned regularly. Regular pruning will keep the shrubs to a manageable size of about 6 feet (1.8 metres).
Hydrangeas in general prefer a rich well-drained soil. For paniculata hydrangeas, a slightly acidic soil works well; you can achieve this by adding peat moss and or coffee grounds to the planting area.
The best place to plant hydrangeas is in a sheltered location with sunny mornings and shady afternoons. You often find this on the north or south side of your home. Avoid planting directly underneath trees, which can lead to competition for water and nutrients.
An exciting hardy hydrangea from Holland, Limelight has unique chartreuse blooms in mid-summer that change to pink in fall. Good massed, as a hedge, in containers or as a cut flower. Water when top 2 inches of soil is dry.
Avoid feeding hydrangeas after August, especially in regions with cold winters. A slow-release plant food works well. For best results, try Miracle-Gro® Shake 'n Feed® Flowering Trees & Shrubs Plant Food, which feeds for up to 3 months.
How late can you plant limelight hydrangeas?
Like other hydrangeas, the best time to plant a Limelight hydrangea is in fall or early spring, so it has time to take root before the heat of summer.
Sniffing hydrangeas is generally not productive either but the summer blooming panicle varieties like Limelight and Little Lime have a sweet fragrance. Not so with oak leaf types or the vast majority of blue or pink mopheads and lacecaps.
No matter where this shrub is grown, it has a bloom time from early summer through late fall. The bush performs so well, that it will typically bloom the first year planting it in the ground as well! The Limelight Hydrangea is native to China and Japan.
Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight' blooms on new wood which means that it produces flowers on the current seasons growth. They do not require annual pruning but if needed they can be taken back by one-third of the size of the plant in the spring. I hope this is helpful.
By altering the soil pH with vinegar, you can actually turn your pink-flowering hydrangeas blue! For this trick, simply dilute your vinegar in water before pouring it around the base of your hydrangeas, and within just a few weeks you could have fresh and bountiful blue blooms.
The Limelights will produce some blooms in their first year and will produce more prolifically in subsequent years. Since first planting them and making sure they were well watered in those initial weeks/months, we no longer give them water aside from what they get from rain.
But when to prune them? Prune fall blooming hydrangeas, or old wood bloomers, after they bloom in the summer. If you prune old wooded hydrangeas in fall, you are cutting off next seasons blooms. Summer blooming hydrangeas, or those that bloom on new wood, are pruned in the fall, after they stop blooming.
Hydrangeas that bloom on new wood can be safely pruned in late fall once the plants have gone dormant or in early spring. Next year's flower buds won't be formed until late spring the same year they bloom, so there is no risk of removing the buds if you prune in fall or spring.
'Limelight' is one of the later-blooming panicle hydrangeas, and can bloom quite late in cooler climates. Limelight Prime hydrangea blooms much earlier, if you're looking for similar features and a longer display. Bloom color: Flowers start green, open to a creamy white, then go to green again.
Phantom Panicle Hydrangea.
It has a nice large panicle similar to 'Limelight' but slightly more rounded and larger. It is said that it has the largest flower heads of any "paniculata" cultivars. The breeder in Belgium actually preferred this cultivar over 'Limelight.
What colors do limelight hydrangeas come in?
Limelight hydrangea trees grow in a rounded shape with deep, dark green foliage. In summer, their 10-inch, pale green flowers bloom from new wood growth. These enormous blooms change color throughout the season, shifting to creams, whites, and even pinks through fall before the leaves drop in winter.
This deciduous shrub will grow to between 48 and 72 inches in height with a 48-to-60-inch spread. This upright, easy to grow plant has average watering needs. Grow it in most pH conditions as long as the soil is well-draining.
Bigleaf Hydrangeas
Also known as florist's hydrangea or hortensia, this is the kind with the big, glossy, leathery leaves and pink, blue, or purple (and sometimes white) blooms.
The most common type of hydrangea is a Bigleaf, or French hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla). These are categorized in mophead (big puffy balls), lacecap (similar to mophead but with tiny buds in the center) and mountain (similar to lacecap, but extremely cold hardy with smaller blooms).
- 'Limelight' H. paniculata. ...
- Little Lime® H. paniculata. ...
- Incrediball® H. arborescens. ...
- Fire Light ® Panicle hydrangea. ...
- Bobo® H. ...
- Pinky Winky® H. ...
- Invincibelle® Spirit II H. ...
- Little Quick Fire® H.
Add a flurry of flowers to the summer landscape with the help of Annabelle and panicle hydrangeas like Limelight and Little Lime. These hardy shrubs provide lots of beauty with minimal care.
Hydrangea macrophyllas, commonly known as 'Big Leaf Hydrangeas', are ideal for almost any shade setting & are prized for its large flowers and dense foliage.
A soil test can help identify any soil nutrient deficiencies. Here are some appropriate fertilizers for Limelight Hydrangea plants: Espoma Holly-Tone Organic Food For Evergreen & Flowering Shrubs (4-3-4) from Nature Hills. Jobe's Organic Knock-Out Rose Plant Food Fertilizer with BioZome (3-4-3) from Home Depot.
- Mophead Hydrangeas (big leaf) - Hydrangea macrophylla.
- Lacecap Hydrangeas - Hydrangea macrophylla normalis.
- Mountain Hydrangeas - Hydrangea macrophylla ssp. Serrata.
- Climbing Hydrangeas - Hydrangea anomala subsp. petiolaris.
