Panicle Hydrangeas | Summer Flower Power

One of my favorite shrubs in our landscape is the Limelight Hydrangea, Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight'. It's a vigorous grower, so you'll want to give this one space to grow as it can reach 6-8 feet tall and wide.

But as you'll notice from the cover photo on the YouTube video I've included below, older specimens can be double that size. This photo is from the University of Minnesota Arboretum. I crawled under the shrub to find and verify the plant label. It's three Limelights that have been allowed to grow together.

The video shows my normal pruning process each year in late winter, where I remove the spent flower heads and a few larger canes, getting our Limelight ready for the season.

Believe it or not, the Limelight Hydrangea highlighted for pruning in the video and the photos below, was initially planted in a tree form. I'm not sure why, but I've seen a fair amount of the tree form Hydrangeas struggle in our area, and not adapting well. Perhaps it's due to our strong winds, which are causing stress on the (tender) single stem.

Since Hydrangea trees are trained and true to type, not grafted onto another species' rootstock, I figured this hydrangea would come back strong from the root system (and it did), as you can see from the photos here, and the stages it goes through during the growing season.

Limelight is in the panicle hydrangea group and is hardy to Zone 3. For best flowering, grow Limelight in full sun, but it will tolerate some shade as well. Since these flower blooms will develop on new growth (same season), late winter into early spring is the perfect time to set the stage for a summer of flower power.

Here's a look at a few other panicle hydrangeas my wife and I have growing in our various gardens. They are such a great choice for gardens in the northern Great Plains and upper Midwest. It's hard to go wrong with this group of shrubs, as it has many varieties, sizes, and various flower colors to choose from.

Bobo Hydrangea, Hydrangea paniculata' ILVOBO,' Zone 3-8

Bobo is the most compact form of panicle hydrangea I am aware of, but new varieties seem to appear every year. It's hard to keep up with all the new names (a good thing!).

Little Lamb Hydrangea, Hydrangea paniculata 'Little Lamb', Zone 3-8

If you look closely, the pink flowers look like a little lamb face. I prune this one back hard yearly due to the tight planting location next to a pathway. It doesn't seem to mind the hard pruning even after 10 years of this practice. You can view one of my earlier videos here, where I'm pruning both the Little Lamb and Bobo Hydrangea.

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Quick Fire Hydrangea, Hydrangea paniculata 'Bulk', Zone 3-8

Quick Fire is one of the best shrubs I've ever seen for attracting pollinators. This video takes a closer look at Quick Fire and four other great shrubs that attract pollinators.

If you're loving the look of panicle hydrangeas, and want more information, here's a link to an article on Monrovia's website that discusses best varieties for no fuss long lasting blooms.

I've been working on a couple of new beds in our landscape to create extra growing space recently. I believe I'll be adding several new varieties to our gardens this season! Maybe this Vanilla Strawberry Hydrangea, WOW, which was also discovered at the University of Minnesota Arboretum.

It's the first part of April as I'm writing this. Spring has been delayed for just a bit with a light overnight snowfall, but this will melt off fast!

I'm excited for spring and can't wait to find a few new hydrangeas to plant this season.

Thanks for stopping by!

Kevin

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