Limelight Hydrangea Plants

Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight'. 3-Litre Pots

Step up to centre stage please for this popular modern, medium-large sized shrub Hydrangea with generous "ice cream cones" of mostly white flowers that change colour as they mature with dashes of green and pink: they look fabulous standing out in the gloom as a long summer evening fades to dusk.

The Autumn leaves are a red, not too bright, and most people leave some faded, dry flowers on the bush for a bit of winter interest and to protect the emerging buds.

Hydrangea paniculata varieties such as 'Limelight' are a bit bigger than our other hydrangeas (which are mostly derived from H. macrophylla), and so are typically used as the back row in a mixed shrub border.

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Features

• Large white flowers, developing green and pink as they age
• Dark green leaves, red in Autumn
• Type: Panicle
• Blooms July - August/September
• Height x Spread: 3m x 3m
• Great for cutting and for drying.
• Low maintenance
• Ideal for shady patios & large containers.
• Delivered in 3-Litre pots

Growing 'Limelight' Hydrangeas

These hardy Hydrangeas like it cool and moist, so a bit of shade and shelter are preferable to an open sunny situation that tends to get dry in summer, because too much sun and wind tends to damage the foliage.

Rich, well-drained soil that has been improved with plenty of compost will hold the moisture and nutrients that hydrangeas love. They do well in large containers.

The soil pH does not change the flower colour in this species, but the flowers do change from white to green and pink as they mature, and different weather conditions influence the timing of that change.

While your plant is growing to the desired size, trim off the longest shoots in winter to maintain a neat and even bush shape, and then remove all small twigs that are growing in the centre of the bush, leaving clean stems. This will give you better flowers on the outward facing stems, and make it look a bit tidier in winter.

When it is about the size you want it, prune it back by up to 1/3rd each year to keep it the right size, or you can leave it to get as big as possible and only clear out the small twiggy growth from the centre, along with dead or damaged stems.

In Your Garden

They look stunning arranged in a lollipop style standard - pair two together to mark a pathway or the top of garden steps. You could also create a striking summer hedge with a row of them, using the variegated Japanese grass Hakonechloa macra at the base, with a lovely white climbing rose behind such as City of York. Or try alongside tall grasses with dwarf purple buddleia studded around the Hydrangeas.

Did You Know?

Bred in Holland, 'Limelight' is a smash hit in the Hydrangea world, and has a bit of a family now: 'Lime Punch', 'Little Lime' and 'Limelight Prime' are all derived from it.

For many hydrangea enthusiasts, 'Limelight' shares top billing with the similarly coloured variety 'Annabelle', which has enormous mop heads.