Limelight hydrangeas are award-winning shrubs that are beautiful panicle varieties. They can be grown all over.

The limelight hydrangea is a bush with large flowers and very strong stems. It gets its name from the fact that the flowers start off a lime green color which is a beautiful accent for the summertime. As the flowers age they turn colors and take on a cream, pink, burgundy, or red color.

This means that during the fall they assumed more appropriate fall colors. the cone-shaped flowers last much longer than almost any other plant and they can grow up to 12 in long which has contributed significantly to the popularity of the limelight hydrangea.

The limelight hydrangea can reach between 6 and 8 feet wide and 6 and 8 ft tall. It prefers partial shade to full shade and produces beautiful flowers that you can cut and place into arrangements either fresh arrangements or dried arrangements. The foliage is a dark green color which offsets the lime green flowers as well as the beautiful fall flower colors. It can be grown almost anywhere even in those places that have very harsh winters and will bloom from the beginning of summer all the way through the end of fall.

How to prune hydrangea Limelight varieties

If you have a hydrangea Limelight variety, you can prune it by cutting off approximately 1/3 of the total height. When you prune a limelight hydrangea be sure to do it at the beginning of Spring or at the end of winter.

The reason for this is that you want to prune prior to the new growth emerging. This shrub will produce flowers on new wood so you don’t want to accidentally cut off any of the growing flower buds. When you are pruning your limelight hydrangea you can also trim away any sick or weak branches as necessary.

Because of the size of the shrub, it really does need a strong base and equally strong branches that can hold up all of the large flowers so, getting rid of anything that’s already weak or dying will help to allocate more energy toward growing flowers and strong stems.

What’s more, if you wanted to take on the shape of a tree you can prune the limelight hydrangea into such a design. It is best to plant them approximately seven or eight feet apart if you’re growing more than one and to that end, you might benefit from pruning in order to allow better air circulation if the plants have started to grow near one another.

Caring for your limelight hydrangea

No matter where you live you need to make sure that the limelight hydrangea you have is placed in well-drained soil. Also, want to make sure that it has a proper layer of compost on there to help with soil moisture retention. They need at least six hours of full sunlight during the day and if you live in a warmer area be sure to plant it somewhere where the plant gets afternoon shade.

Image by Kelli Albert from Pixabay