Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight'
Good Qualities:
First Year
Great foliage color; Fast, vigorous, great flower form, great color, produces for a long time; Nice large blooms.
Second Year
Large flower heads (2); Beautiful color when cut fresh at the exact right stage, much nicer form to heads than species PG; Beautiful!; Stronger stems than species; Very tolerant of southern climate vigorous, great plant and flower; Nice color, tight sepals, nice shape.
Problems:
First Year
Deer candy.
Second Year
Variable head size and 1-3 flowers per stem, so hard to make standard bunch; Very late blossoming in Vermont (weeks later than PG) so some blossoms can be lost to frost.
Postharvest:
First Year
Two trialers reported vase life: 7 and 10 days, respectively.
Second Year
None
Trial Data
First Year
| Plants Flowering (%) | Plants Dead at End of summer (%) | Yield (stems/plant) (1) | Stem Length (inches) (1) | Market Appreciation Rating - Wholesale (1) | Market Appreciation Rating - Retail (1) | Market Appreciation Rating - Consumer (1) | Repeat Again Rating (2) | Ease of Cultivation Rating (2) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average | 58.3 | - | 13.0 | 18.4 | - | 5.0 | 3.5 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Range of Responses | 0-100 | - | 5-24 | 11-26 | - | 5.0 | 3-4 | 5 | 5 |
Second Year
| Plants Flowering (%) | Plants Dead at End of summer (%) | Yield (stems/plant) (1) | Stem Length (inches) (1) | Market Appreciation Rating (2) | Repeat Again Rating (2) | Ease of Cultivation Rating (2) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average | 100.0 | 0 | 26.3 | 27.8 | 4.3 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| Range of Responses | 100 | 0 | 7-62 | 20-36 | 3-5 | 4-5 | 4-5 |
(1) Data shown are from those respondents who harvested stems. Some respondents may not have harvested stems because they were too short. Flowering stems may be longer next year after plants are established. See comments section for more details.
(2) 1 to 5 scale, with 5 being the best. Market ratings are based on sales to wholesalers, retailers, or final consumers direct.
Comments:
First Year
None
Second Year
One trialers reported the postharvest life as 7 days; Cut in the green stage it is different from other PG's - in the semi-hard stage, its color is similar to PG but the flower form is better - fuller and in the huge size has a conical head vs the "sheep's head' form of PG; I think when we learn best cutting stage/pruning routine, this will be a total winner - good return/area planted; A big hit with wedding florist.