Some of the least fussy hydrangeas of all come into their own in mid-summer. Hydrangea paniculata is a staple of many summer gardens where the gardener wants masses of flowers with little upkeep. Gardeners reference these plants many ways, calling them by different names in different locales: “PeeGee” Hydrangea, Panicle Hydrangea or Panicled Hydrangea. By any name, these shrubs are gems. Some of the newer cultivars are real superstars in my borders.

 

The pale flower heads of panicle hydrangeas make a huge impact when the garden is bursting with the hot colors of summer. They provide a serene backdrop that shows off the yellows, oranges, purples & reds of black-eyed Susans, daylilies, coneflowers and roses that explode in the heat. Panicles soothe.

 

“Panicle” refers to the cone shaped flower heads that generally cover this deciduous shrub in creamy white or pale green in mid-late summer. The flowers on many varieties fade to varying shades of pink as they age. The flower heads are popular for floral arrangements. They can be used either fresh or dried in everlasting bouquets. They are popular in holiday decorations – dried panicles tucked back into the branches of a Christmas tree provide a lovely ‘snowy’ effect.

 

Panicles are not the old-fashioned pink or blue round mophead hydrangeas that likely grew alongside your grandmothers back porch in the South. Those hydrangeas are still lovely and worthwhile but they need shade and moisture-rich soil to thrive. They really need water!

 

Panicle hydrangeas like the sun and they need it to flower heavily. They can grow well in partial shade – especially if conditions are dry. But they actually handle dry soil & drought conditions very well once established.   Water regularly the first season or two to get the plants settled if rain is minimal. But after that initial year or two of settling in, you can expect that panicles will likely thrive in hot, dry conditions.

 

They need little pruning – usually it is sufficient to simply cut out dead wood. They are unique among hydrangeas in that they can be trained to a tree form. When grown as a tree, it is important to prune out suckers as soon as they emerge to retain the tree form.

 

Panicle hydrangeas are hardy in Zones 3-9 and bloom on new wood, so late season frosts rarely impact summer blooms.

 

There are many excellent hybrids of panicle hydrangeas available. I grow five cultivars currently and have a total of eight plants. My two favorites are relatively new cultivars – Limelight and Little Lime.. These two are especially heavy bloomers in my garden and they are popping up everywhere in public gardens and landscaped areas.  

 

Limelight is a large shrub that easily reaches 6’-8’ tall and wide. It is loaded with pale green cone shaped flower heads. Limelight can grow even taller when trained as a tree – and it trains well to tree form, though it will be easier to purchase one already grown as a standard if you want that tree shape immediately.

 

Little Lime offers the same abundance of pale green flowers. Flower heads, however, are more rounded than those on Limelight. Little Lime matures at 3’-5’ and is ideal for a smaller yard or under a window.

 

A new cultivar I’m growing for the first time this year is Sugar Puff. This little plant was available for the first time in my area earlier this summer and is offered as an HGTV endorsed cultivar. Sugar Puff is reputed to be even more compact than Little Lime. Sugar Puff literally covered itself in small snowy white blooms in my garden. It should mature to about 2’-3’ tall and 3’ wide.

 

I like these smaller panicle hydrangeas as they are so suitable for pots or to tuck into the landscape somewhere you want reliable low maintenance mid-summer blooms, but can’t really handle a mammoth 6’x6’ shrub.

 

I love, love, love the look of the smaller panicle hydrangeas in pots on a deck, terrace,walkway or patio. Here’s what I like about them as container plants:

 

• Bloom for weeks and weeks nonstop
• Less demanding of water than containers filled with annuals
• Good for hot, sun-drenched locations or locations that get morning sun
• Create a major impact immediately
• Cost less to fill really large containers than annuals/perennials
• Can be planted in the garden at the end of the season for long term enjoyment

 

I am growing Sugar Puff in a large container on a sunny deck and it’s done remarkably well there. I am noticing, however, that it does need consistent water for the flowers to remain looking good. If it gets too dry, the flowers begin the turn brown.  Growing new cultivars in containers the first year allows the gardener to become very familiar with each plant’s unique needs.

 

I am also growing Little Lime in a large pot on the same very sunny deck. Little Lime is a larger plant and in a larger pot in the sunniest, hottest part of the deck – much less protected than Sugar Puff. Think baking afternoon sun for 6+ hours without any shade cover whatsoever. It, too, has needed some extra watering, but while its leaves have drooped at times, its flowers have not faltered or turned brown and remain a lush, cool lime green

 

I grew another Little Lime in a pot on the same deck last year in the location where I am growing Sugar Puff this year. It did not burn and needed very little water even though the summer was the hottest and driest on record.

 

Both of these specimens will be transplanted into the garden in the Fall. I’ll make sure Sugar Puff gets less afternoon sun if the site is especially dry.

 

If transplanting into the ground is not an option, I have wintered over specimens of Limelight and Little Lime in pots outdoors in the past in Central Virginia and Northern Virginia. They’ve need no protection and have thrived year to year in pots if given some fresh soil and potted up to larger pots when needed.

 

I’ve heard very good things about two other small cultivars: Little Lamb & Bobo. Maybe next year I will try one of them on a pot on the deck. Since Little Lime seems to be my ‘control’ group against which I am judging all other small panicles, I will likely get another Little Lime and pot it up as well and do a bit more ‘research’.

 

Other cultivars I grow include Fire & Ice (which has the added bonus of fragrance) and Chantilly Lace, an older cultivar. Fire & Ice ages to a rosy red, Chantilly Lace remains very white. Both are larger plants. Neither bloom as heavily as Limelight, Little Lime or Sugar Puff in my garden. But they put on nice displays.   If I had to replace them, I would use Limelight.