It wasn’t until the summer of 2019 that I realized I lived in a Hydrangea paniculata forest. If you have read my columns, then you know The Garden Guy can exaggerate a little. So, to be more succinct: My neighbors all down both sides of the street have the most glorious monster hydrangeas. I, on the other hand, have the more refined Limelight Prime, the 2023 Hydrangea of the Year, as so designated by Proven Winners.
When I planted it in 2020 to join the neighborhood Hydrangea Society, I had no idea it would be the hydrangea of the year three years later. In fact, I was part of the testing process, as it wasn’t released until 2021. To me the differences with Limelight, the all-time granddaddy of hydrangeas, are huge. Well, maybe the big truth here is that they are NOT huge.
You see, my neighbor’s wonderful hydrangeas push 8 feet tall, maybe more, and some of their clusters actually block the view of traffic. Others are so large they even screen the front of the house. So a smaller version like Limelight Prime, which gets only 4 to 6 feet tall, is just what the doctor ordered. They are easier to work into small yards, or even smaller beds like I am doing. They also boast sturdier stems able to hold those huge blooms upright. It has a better foliage cover and starts blooming earlier.
