Quick Fire Fab® Panicle Hydrangea

Quick Fire Fab blooms about a month ahead of most panicle hydrangeas, which stretches the season at the front end rather than the back. This Proven Winners® selection, Hydrangea paniculata 'SMNHPM', grows 6 to 8 feet tall and 5 to 6 feet wide 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 flower heads are full and rounded rather than the narrow cones most panicles carry, closer in shape to a mophead but on a plant with the hardiness and sun tolerance of a panicle. They open white in early summer and start turning pink almost immediately, deepening to a strong pinkish red as the season goes.

How much color you get depends on where you garden. The 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 red.

Early bloom means an early color change too, so the deep pink phase arrives while the rest of the garden is still green. Panicle hydrangeas flower on new wood, so the buds form in spring and a hard winter cannot take the display, and 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.