PlantFiles: Panicle Hydrangea, Tree Hydrangea
Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight'

I planted a 5' tall grafted, heavily pruned, dormant, tree-form "Limelight" in April 2012. It leafed out immediately and is now forming some flower heads. Mine has a strong trunk which did not require staking. I'm eagerly waiting for the first year's blooms, and will revise this post at a later date.

Easy to propagate from layering.

Planted this March while still dormant, this was my Limelight's first season. It was entrancing from the start... First, the chartreuse leaves of spring distinguished themselves nicely in the afternoon shade against the chocolate brown brick of the house, where darker leaves go completely unnoticed from the street. Then as the blooms unfolded, their refreshing celery-green color accented the light green foliage beautifully as they aged toward pure white at the height of summer. Now, at the end of season, the foliage is darker green and the flowers' greenish undertone has re-emerged, but now is blushed with dusky rose.

It being my first hydrangea ever, I am surprised at how healthy the leaves look this late in the season. Expected them to be ratty and stressed from the record-setting heat this year, but there's nary a scar on them.
Can't find anything negative about this plant. Love it!

Nice plant. I had to moved it to more sun because it was not doing to well in the shade for me. I planted it in full sun and it has done well.
I took several cuttings last year and had great success . Easy to grow just like any other hydrangea, The color is not that impressive, but its nice to have and I love it.

I work part time in a local nursery that has served several generations of excellent gardeners. Since its first year of introduction, this plant has sold out very quickly. Quite often we have a "run" on new plants that gradually slows to a walk. However, Limelight may be a marathon runner for two reasons: Like the oak leaf hydrangea, which is very popular here and has a wild "cousin" in our backwoods, Limelight is not affected by the frequent late freezes that send mop head lovers running for cover. My understanding is it is also "fool proof". In a state with frequent strong winds and heavy rain, pruning it to establish strong branch structure is probably a wise move. I just planted mine last year and am already impressed with the growth. Can't wait to see the blooms!

Had great success this being the second yr...been supplying the neighbors with flowers.

Ehhhh! That pretty much sums up this plant. Though it doesn't stand out, it won't go unnoticed in the garden. I would describe mine as pretty much average.

Very nice form and color, easy to grow - why wouldn't you own one?

Has bloomed here in central MS in partial shade. Have trouble with the regular peegee, but this one does bloom here. Very light green to white flowers.

does well despite our cold winters

This hydrangea didn't come out as green as I had hoped, but the blooms are huge and plentiful. Fast grower and so far disease and pest free. It really stands out in the garden.

I purchased Limelight spring 2004,and am really impressed. It bloomed all summer in my zone 3 garden, the color was the most beautiful shade of light green.We had exceptionally hot weather with the most awful aphid epidemic and very few predators. It was so healthy, it didn't skip a beat, the foliage and flowers were unscathed. The buds are just starting to swell now mid April 2005, it survived -37C with little winter kill. By far the best hydrangea I have.

Information from both "Hydrangeas for American Gardens," by Michael A. Dirr (2004) and "Encyclopedia of Hydrangeas" C.J. and D.M. Van Gelderen (2004 - Timber Press)

Well branched, medium sized shrub 6 - 10 feet, with 8 being the average, and 5 to 8 feet wide. The flowers carry only sterile ray-flowers and the panicles are almost as big as those of 'Grandiflora', but LIMELIGHT turns more to pink than does 'Grandiflora' according to Van Gelderen.

Professor Dirr notes that in zone 7, color showed an expression more towards white in this cultivar, possibly due to heat.

AKA 'Zwijnenburg' and trademarked name is LIMELIGHT. Bred by Pieter Zwijnenburg, Boskoop, Netherlands, in 1990.

In my Zone 8b garden, the color ranges from faded green to off-white. The color is not as bright as I had hoped. However, on the plus side, I planted a 10" high specimen and in 1 year it had soared to 6 ft high and spread to 5 ft wide with over a dozen blooms each literally 10" x 10"! It has out-grown and out-produced all of my hydrangeas.

The blooms are lime in color and then soften to an off-white/white as they progress.