Little Lime® Panicle Hydrangea

Little Lime gives you Limelight's chartreuse flowers on a plant that fits under a window. Hydrangea paniculata 'Jane', sold as Little Lime, holds at 3 to 5 feet tall and 4 to 6 feet wide, roughly a third the size of its parent, in full sun to part sun with at least four hours of direct light. Hardy from Zone 3 through Zone 8, reaching full size in three or four seasons.

The panicles open soft lime green in midsummer, smaller than Limelight's and carried in proportion to the plant, then fade to cream before picking up pink as fall comes on. The flowers keep coming for a long stretch, and the whole shrub is covered rather than flowering only at the tips.

How much pink you get depends on where you garden. The color change is driven by cool nights, so northern gardens color up strongly while warmer southern gardens tend to hold cream and soft blush instead of turning burgundy.

The size is what makes this one useful. It works in a foundation bed, a mixed border, a large container, or a low hedge along a walk, where the full-size panicles would need constant cutting back. Panicle hydrangeas flower on new wood, so a hard winter cannot take the display, and it blooms reliably in Zone 3 where the bigleaf types will not. Soil pH does not affect the color. Cut back by about a third in late winter. It wants well-drained soil and handles sun, cold, and drought better than the other hydrangea groups.