Smitten by the beauty of its big, white flower panicles and lush foliage, gardeners often favor Limelight hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata “Limelight”) plants to bring harmony and soft texture to key areas of the landscape. For smaller properties, and settings where the large bush simply won't fit, the same flowering charm can be achieved with Little Lime hydrangeas (Hydrangea paniculata “Jane“ P.P.A.F.) instead. This dwarf variety takes up just 3 to 5 feet in both vertical and horizontal dimensions, making it an ideal companion for many moderate-sized shrubs, bold-colored flowers and fine-textured plants that thrive in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 3 through 9.
Planted along the front or side of a house, a row of evergreen foundation plants, such as upright, columnar yew (Taxus spp.) or Chinese juniper (Juniperus chinensis), provides a robust background for Little Lime's loose, rounded form. The combination of plants establishes a natural visual graduation between the structure's hard surfaces and the landscape's softer planes. Effectively screening the house foundation from view, the evergreens provide year-round color. The hydrangeas add lush, white punctuation to the area during the summer blooming season, and a touch of pink when the flowers change color in the autumn. In the winter garden, the grayish-brown branches of this deciduous bush stand in deliciously stark contrast to the green background shrubs.
Growing at the edge of a woodland setting, Little Lime is ideally positioned to bring spots of light to the shaded area when the shrub's large, white flowers are in full bloom in the summer. Rhododendrons (Rhododendron spp.) -- which also grow well in partially shaded locations but generally bloom earlier in the year – are gracious companions for the dwarf hydrangea. The shrubs provide a cool, inviting understory to the taller evergreen and deciduous trees forming a canopy over the woodsy part of a landscape. Both types of plants require moist soil for optimal performance in any location, so a routine schedule of watering the plants can be easily coordinated.
When the sky is dark and the only light comes from the moon, or strategically placed landscape lights, Little Lime hydrangea flower heads take on an ethereal glow as they seem to float in the dark, suspended in the shrub's darker foliage. The creamy, light-brown and gray bark on the trunks of a multi-stemmed “Heritage” river birch tree (Betula nigra “Cully”) and the small tree's delicate leaves shimmer under illumination. A third companion, low-growing “Silver Mound” artemisia (Artemisia schmidtiana “Silver Mound”), with its fine-textured, feathery leaves, adds a lacy element to the moonlight garden. This mixture of plants is particularly alluring near a patio where you can sit in quiet relaxation on a warm summer night to enjoy the softly lighted spectacle.
Sturdy, long-stemmed flowers that hold up well in flower arrangements and bouquets are excellent companions to Little Lime hydrangeas in a cutting garden. The plump, slightly elongated Little Lime flower heads are long-lasting when they are clipped and brought indoors. Their ivory blooms lend an air of graceful serenity to formal decor indoors. Outdoors, a border of the small hydrangea plants at the edge of a cutting garden distracts from the sight of the annual and perennial plants that can start to look disheveled as flowers are repeatedly harvested during the blooming season. When the hydrangea heads turn a soft shade of pink in the fall, chrysanthemums (Dendranthema x grandiflora) of all colors are a complementary companion in garden and in autumn-theme floral arrangements.
- Monrovia: Limelight Hardy Hydrangea
- Monrovia: Little Lime Hardy Hydrangea
- Ohio State University, Horticulture and Crop Science: Taxus x Media
- Ohio State University, Horticulture and Crop Science: Juniperus
- San Francisco Botanical Garden: Rhododendron
- Monrovia: Heritage River Birch Multi
- Walters Gardens, Inc.: Artemisia Schmidtiana “Silver Mound”
- Ohio State University, Horticulture and Crop Science: Dendranthema x Grandiflora