Hydrangea Little Lime
* Common name: Hydrangea Little Lime
* Botanical name: Hydrangea paniculata ‘Jane’
Hydrangea ‘Little Lime.’
* What it is: A long-blooming shrub that gets large, 6-inch-wide, cone-shaped flower clusters of lime-white from early to late summer. Flowers mature pink. This one is a compact version of the popular ‘Limelight.’
* Size: 4 feet tall and wide.
* Where to use: Excellent specimen in any sunny to partly sunny mixed garden or along an east, west or south foundation. Also makes a good blooming hedge around patios or along property borders.
* Care: Thin out excess or crossing branches at the end of winter. Also shorten the rest of the plant as low as ankle-high for maximum compactness. Just thin if size is OK. Will do fine even with no pruning. Scatter a granular, balanced fertilizer over the bed at winter’s end. Water needed only in very dry weather. Has good drought tolerance. Cut a few flowers for arrangements.
* Great partner: Coreopsis ‘Big Bang Mercury Rising’ (perennial) or purple petunias (annual).
I mistakenly pruned my little lime hydrangeas to about around 1-2″ last fall. I am unsure of how fast they grow. Will I have much of a plant this year? They were just planted last summer. Thank you!
Kim,
One to two inches, not one to two feet? ‘Little Lime’ will come back quickly from even ankle-high pruning and be fine this year already. Almost to the ground is a little iffier.
You should be seeing new shoots emerging from the remaining crown if the plant is still alive. If so, that’s good, but it’ll likely take until next year for it to approach a normal size again.