Limelight Hydrangea: My Favorite Flowering Shrub

My Limelight Hydrangea is truly one of my fav's! I wait all summer for the blooms, and they are gorgeous!

The bloom size is amazing! And even with summer's torrential downpours, the plant continues to hold its giant blooms upright.


Even though Limelight is a relatively late bloomer in my garden, I don't mind the wait. With these beautiful blooms in late summer, Limelight is a shining star in my garden.

The blooms emerge with a soft, lime green tint, hence their name, and open fully to a pure white.










This photo shows how large the blossoms can get - they engulf my hand! The blooms are easily 6-8" long. Though they have only a very slight fragrance, they delight me with their little florets combining to make these large blossoms.


The fluffy blooms last for many weeks, gradually turning a pinkish hue. The blossoms can be cut and dried, though I often leave them on the plant even into the winter months. Sometimes old blossoms look like tiny tumbleweeds as they are blown across the snow-packed ground. 


There is relatively no maintenance with this beautiful shrub. The only pruning necessary is to remove any dead wood, which there seldom is. 

You could trim off the old flowers after summer if you desired to. And if you like to dry the blossoms, you can remove them at any time.

This cheery plant is a stand-out in the garden. Give it plenty of room to grow, and water it regularly until it is established, and in times of drought, especially when the flower heads are forming. Limelight does like to have evenly moist soil, so mulching the root zone is a great idea. This hydrangea will never fail to bring beautiful blooms long after most other plants have finished blossoming. Hummingbirds and bees enjoy the blossoms, too!

NOTE: Limelight (paniculata) hydrangeas differ from the mophead (macrophylla) hydrangeas many are familiar with. Mopheads include Annabelle and Endless Summer, two of the most commonly used  hydrangeas in the midwestern landscape. The leaves of paniculata are smaller, and the bloom time is much later in summer. Both types deserve a place in the garden!

Scientific name: Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight'

Common name: Limelight Hydrangea

Family: Hydrangeaceae

Zone: 4-8

Light requirements: Full Sun to Partial Shade

Height: 6-8'

Spread: 6-8'

Bloom time: Mid-late summer through mid-fall

Caveats: Some parts of the plant may be poisonous if ingested. So, don't eat it. Simple as that. 

Sunshine Yellow: Rudbeckia 'Indian Summer'

Such a cheery face! How could you not love this bright as sunshine flower? The blossoms of Rudbeckia 'Indian Summer' have just started blooming in my garden!






 



This sun-loving plant sports bright blooms 3-5" in size, and each blossom lasts for many weeks. They keep on blooming and brightening up the garden all summer long!










The centers start out smooth and reddish, and become softer and dark brown after the stamens open.

Bumblebees love to perch and drink nectar from these happy plants, and they help to spread the pollen.

This variety is known to move about the garden, but doesn't form dense colonies like other Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia species). 

'Indian Summer' may be considered a biennial, or a short-lived perennial. The plants may last for a a year or two, but they reseed freely and I'm glad to see I have some blooming in my garden again this year.

In my garden, my plants stayed in the same place for a couple of years, but they didn't make it through this last winter.

However they have reseeded and relocated themselves elsewhere in my garden, and where they are blooming now works beautifully! I couldn't have done a better job myself!


I enjoy seeing their bright faces when I walk by my garden. Their bright color, large flower size and each flower's longevity in the garden make this a perennial not to be without!






 Here are the facts:

Scientific name: Rudbeckia hirta 'Indian Summer'

Common name: Black-eyed Susan

Family: Asteraceae

Zone: 3-7

Light requirements: Full Sun

Height: 2-3'

Spread: 1-2'

Bloom time: June thru frost

Tolerant: Deer, drought and clay soil

Here's a picture of 'Indian Summer' in my garden last year, blooming with my Star-gazer lilies and Summer Phlox. Isn't this a lovely palette of color?

Weigela 'Red Prince': Show Stopping Color

 
Today's spotlight is on my Weigela 'Red Prince' which is in its full-blooming glory. This gorgeous deciduous shrub is one of my fav's, and is often used in my landscape designs.

Red Prince is a showy plant when in bloom, and rather quiet during the rest of the season. Its tubular flowers attract hummingbirds and bees, and for brief time in the spring, it is an absolute stand out in the garden.



 



Red Prince has a form that is irregular, and I like it that way. I have seen some specimens pruned into a perfect mounding shape, but it's not natural for the plant, so therefore it's not my preference. Some minor pruning of long, overgrown canes is the only shaping I perform.

The delicate flowers appear in abundance, and this year the show is spectacular! Each tiny flower is dressed in crimson, with white anthers and pistils. Absolutely gorgeous!

Clusters of flowers appear on every branch, from top to bottom. This plant is quite floriferous, and the abundance of flowers this season is causing the branches to bend just a little. The display is jaw-dropping!

Red Prince pairs well with other flowering shrubs. Behind and to the left, my very tall 'President Grevy' lilac has finished blooming, and directly behind the weigela is my 'Blue Muffin' Viburnum in full bloom.

To the side are spirea for early summer bloom, and on the other side of the bed I have summersweet (Clethra alnifolia) for mid-summer color and a wonderful fragrance. So you see, in a bed approximately 14' square, I have something blooming nearly all season long!




I knew everyone would wonder what was blooming behind the Weigela, so today is a two-fer because the Blue Muffin Viburnum is another of my fav's, also used in my landscape designs. Are you seeing a pattern here? Indeed, I like to grow the plants that I offer to my customers for their gardens. That way, I have an idea of how they grow and how well they thrive in our area.

Viburnums in general are one of my favorites, and Blue Muffin is a sweet, smaller specimen. Those adorable white flowers are followed by bright blue berries. I wouldn't bake with them, but the birds love 'em!






I find great delight in the delicate beauty of the blooms of my Red Prince Weigela. The shrub can be a bit ungainly, but certainly deserves a place in the deciduous shrub border.

Here are the facts:

Botanical name: Weigela florida 'Red Prince'

Common name: Red Prince Weigela *




Hardiness: Zone 4 - 8

Height: 5' - 6' tall

Spread: 5' - 6' wide

Flowering time: late spring/early summer with another, less abundant bloom late in summer

Location: Full sun is recommended, but my plant is situated in full morning sun with deep shade all afternoon and still flowers profusely.




* Weigela is pronounced Wy gee la; with a soft 'g' sound (like a 'j'). Some people pronounce it with a hard 'g' sound. Some add an extra 'i' and say wy gelia. However you wish to pronounce it, this stunning shrub deserves a place in the landscape as a specimen plant. When in bloom, it is drop-dead gorgeous!