Plant of the Week: Lime Rickey® Hydrangea

Happy Monday!

In keeping with the season, last week Jane wrote about a couple varieties of green hydrangea available from Proven Winners® ColorChoice®. At the risk of sounding like an Irish Spring commercial, all I'd like to add is "...and I like, too!"

Want to read more about the sturdy varieties mentioned in this article? Southern Living just put together a very nice write-up on panicle hydrangeas, featuring 'Limelight', Little Lime®, and some of their colorful cousins, called The Easiest Hydrangea of All.

Enjoy,

Natalie

Planting O' the Green

Limelight® Bloom

'Limelight' hydrangea has been one of our most popular plants for years; it's hard to believe that at one time the idea of offering a green flower was kind of crazy. It still is a strange concept to some people, at least until they see the flowers. Then they get it, and they want it.

Limelight® in landscape

Emboldened by the success of 'Limelight', we've gone on to introduce a few other green flowered hydrangeas, including Little Lime®,  a dwarf version of the  'Limelight' hydrangea.

Both are super-durable - hardy down to USDA zone 3, with Little Lime® being a great choice for container gardening.

Lime Rickey® in landscape

Lime Rickey® and the smaller Invincibelle Limetta® are H. arborescens, not H. paniculata, but are also durable choices for harsh climates.

Lime Rickey® with pink pollen display

Lime Rickey® hydrangea is a calm, cool plant for the summer garden with full mophead flowers held upright on very sturdy stems. If you get a little closer to the flowers you will see that the pollen is a showy pink color. That's kind of fun to see and reminds me of the Preppy Handbook that made the rounds of 1980's junior high schools. Wait around and you'll see a beautiful marbleized effect on the blooms as they age. 

Hardy to USDA Zone 3 and growing to about 4-5' tall and wide, in northern climates, you will want to give Lime Rickey® full sun, but as you go further south some partial shade is fine.

Smooth hydrangea like Lime Rickey® are a great choice for cold climates or really any situation where you don't want untimely pruning to compromise the flower display. It flowers on new wood and will bloom quite nicely after a late winter pruning.

I think green flowers can do a lot for a garden. Sure, they're not as obvious as hot pink, but they have an understated charm that is perfect for a soothing backyard landscape. In a world where everything and everyone seems to be competing for attention, they're pretty chill. I like that.

Plant of the Week is written by Jane Beggs-Joles