Ep 174. Bowing Blossoms of Limelights

In this episode, we revisit the story of Lorraine's Flopping Limelight Hydrangea and chat about a new variety that solves the Bowing Blossoms of Limelights.

Lorraine's garden dilemma came four years ago when we said goodbye to our beloved canine kid, Miss Ellie Mae. We wrap up reflecting that while endings and losses are part of life, love remains forever rooted in our hearts. Then come new beginnings to seed and grow our Garden of Life. 

Thank you for tuning in.

Related Stories & Helpful Links: 

Flopping Limelight Hydrangea - Blog Post 

Link to the new 'Limelight Prime' Hydrangea

Gardens Glow – Blog Post 

Ep 03. Cicadas Back to School, Gardens Glow

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I'd love to hear your garden and nature stories and your thoughts about topics for future podcast episodes. You can email me at AskMaryStone@gmail.com. 

You can Follow Garden Dilemmas on Facebook and Instagram #MaryElaineStone.

Episode web page —Garden Dilemmas Podcast Page

 Thank you for sharing the Garden of Life,

Mary Stone, Columnist & Garden Designer

                                        AskMaryStone.com

More about the Podcast and Column:

Welcome to Garden Dilemmas, Delights, and Discoveries.

It's not only about gardens; it's about nature's inspirations, about grasping the glories of the world around us, gathering what we learned from mother nature, and carrying these lessons into our garden of life. So, let's jump in in the spirit of learning from each other. We have lots to talk about.

Thanks for tuning in, Mary Stone
Garden Dilemmas? AskMaryStone.com
Direct Link to Podcast Page

Transcript

Ep 174 Bowing Blooms of Limelights

Sun, Aug 18, 2024 9:32AM • 9:04

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

blooms, garden, limelight, wrote, lorraine, hydrangea, plant, hydrangeas, pruning, life, years, grows, mary, white, oak leaf, gardens, flowers, cicadas, dilemmas, new jersey, mary stone, garden, nature, inspiration

SPEAKERS

Mary Stone

Mary Stone  00:00

Mary, Hello, fellow lovers of all things green. I'm Mary Stone, and welcome to Garden Dilemmas, Delights and Discoveries. It's not only about gardens. It's about nature's inspirations, about grasping the glories of the world around us, gathering what we learn from mother nature, and carrying these lessons into our garden of life. So let's jump in, the spirit of learning from each other, we have lots to talk about. 

Mary Stone  00:23

Hello, there. It's Mary Stone on the screen porch, and once again, the cicadas are singing in the trees. And before that, the night crickets were still singing. So we're just going to have to deal with these beautiful sounds of mid-August here in New Jersey. Thank you for joining me. First, I want to thank those of you that wrote back about how much you enjoyed the Oak Leaf Hydrangea for All Seasons, and today we're going to speak about another hydrangea, and we're kind of on a hydrangea theme. It’s the time of year to really enjoy them. I've been working with a new client up in Sussex County, New Jersey, and they host wedding events and other events on a farm that was vacant for about 32 years, I believe they said. And after they uncovered all the overgrowth, they built the most magnificent farm - all organic practices and kindness to the animals. It's such a delight to be working with them. They wish to include plant material that they could harvest the blooms, of course, as well as stem cuttings for bouquets. Candace is not a fan of colorful blooms in the garden, because she prefers neutral colors in the landscape, which allows her to add pops of color in the flower arrangements that she designs for the events. I spoke with her about how gardens glow at dusk and dawn when you use white flowering plants or those with white and green foliage variegation.  And so we are including white in their garden theme, including oak leaf hydrangea and the Ruby slipper we spoke about last week. Candace was a little concerned about the color shift to pinkish, but I mention that many brides wear pale pink, and it's such a light color that it really is neutral. And then there's the popular Limelight hydrangea that turns green to white, but they often flop, leading to a story written a few years ago that starts like this.

Mary Stone  02:15

 Hello, fellow listeners and readers. Lorraine from Sparta New Jersey writes, Hi Mary, hope you are well. I have a Limelight hydrangea garden dilemma. I prune it every spring to about three feet. It grows to a total of about six to seven feet tall and wide by August with ginormous blooms. But with the heavy rain, the stems cannot support the heavy blooms. They don't break. Instead, they bend over gracefully, but the blooms are very low or near the ground. 

Mary Stone  02:45

Lorraine and I became friends during the time she organized the speakers for the SpringFest Garden Show. It was sad when the show retired, which is now several years ago, but how blessed connections along the garden of life journey continue to grow.

Mary Stone  03:00

 Can Limelight hydrangea be pruned a second time in late spring or early summer to reduce the size of the blooms? Mine is an older plant with larger blossoms, but not as many as others I've seen. I recently severely cut back a large viburnum that was crowding it, but maybe it was supporting the plant. 

Mary Stone  03:18

A little side note here. This column was written four years ago, and yes, it was when I lost Miss Ellie. But Jolee has come into my life, as you know. And the coincidence, if you believe in coincidences, is that if the paperwork for Jolee's rescue is accurate, she was born about the same time that Ellie joined the angels. So there's something beautiful about that.

Mary Stone  03:45

 Mary. I am so, so sorry. She was a sweetie. It's tough to be in the house after I know you keep hearing the footsteps and the noises and feel them around the corner. It's true about the footsteps and feeling Ellie around the house and the gardens. 

Mary Stone  04:00

In thinking about Lorraine's garden dilemma, I don't think you can change the size of the blooms, though, the idea of a second pruning may help strengthen the structure of the plant to better support the flowers. Maybe prune it a bit lower. I wrote back, the challenge is not pruning it the second time so late that it inhibits blooming. I'll do some digging and let you know what I find out. 

Mary Stone  04:20

Lorraine sent the photos of her voluptuous Limelight bowing down. You can see the quick fire on the left is nice and upright. Most of the limelight blooms are close to the ground, she wrote. All panicle hydrangeas are easy keepers, as dear old mom would say, growing in moist soils, though it must drain well. If yours is clay, then amend it before planting. They tolerate drought once established, and because they bloom on new wood, they can endure cold winters and still bloom. Quick Fire, like Limelight, grows about eight feet tall and can be pruned into a tree form. It's one of the first panicle hydrangeas to bloom in early July and can thrive in part sun. It starts out white before turning pink, then darkens to reddish pink towards fall. I'm sure that's how the common name Quick Fire came to be. 

Mary Stone  05:09

Limelight’s football shaped light green flowers bloom in late summer, and then they age to pinkish red and maroon. They require at least eight hours of full sun to stand tall. Lorraine's neighboring viburnum may have shadowed her limelight, contributing to its floppiness, as not enough sun can cause weak branching and fewer blooms. So of course, there are photos of Lorraine's magnificent garden. She takes incredible care of her garden. It's just so lovely. 

Mary Stone  05:38

As I did the research, I learned that the most published protocol for pruning and cutting Limelight hydrangeas is to do so by a third of their height, rather than half in early spring, thereby safeguarding from flopping as the new season's growth will come from the heavier, thicker buds lower on the plant. 

Mary Stone  05:56

Lorraine wrote back, I've heard a new Limelight cultivar will be available soon, with stronger branching. And then she asked how I was doing, adding footprints and double heart emojis. It's so interesting to read this now because of course, four years your heart heals, but, um, yeah, it's still something to reflect on with love for these animals that we always hold in our hearts. 

Mary Stone  06:20

Since this story was written in 2020 Limelight Prime was introduced that grows four to six feet high with about a four-to-five-foot spread, and it can thrive in part or full sun in zones three to eight. It also flowers earlier than Limelight, and so you enjoy those blooms much earlier. And if you're in a colder zone, you don't have to wait till late August to have flowers. The green flowers age to white with pink and reddish tones and a drum roll, please, the stronger stems support the big blooms. As I've been driving around, I see a lot of these standing tall Limelights and I am sure they must be this new cultivar. 

Mary Stone  06:57

So, to her response at that time of how I was doing I wrote, I am doing fine. We're missing our dear girl, of course, but I've gotten pretty good at the grieving process. I'm giggling as I write as I'm not good at it at all. But losses are part of life, as is the love which remains rooted. Then there are new beginnings, just like new plants in the Garden of Life. Garden Dilemmas? AskMaryStone.com. 

Mary Stone  07:24

 Yes, indeed, we all go through grieving times in our lives, and I guess as we get older and have more of those experiences, we may go through it a little bit easier, not always, though, and it has a life of its own, as you probably know. But indeed, you look back in time when you experience a loss, and then you live in the present moment and think about those years past. It's just part of all of our growth experiences. And in that comes acceptance, which definitely helps. And there's always new plants to be had and new animals to adopt and new friends to make, and we don't lose sight of or love for those that have left this earth, because, in a way, they never really do. They're always in our hearts. So, thanks for joining me today and again, listening to the cicadas in the trees. I may have to revisit that story-  Cicadas Singing Back to School. I always enjoy our time together, and I hope you have as well. And if so, I would so appreciate if you could share the podcast with a friend or two so more can join us in learning and growing in the garden of life. Thanks so much. See you next time.

Mary Stone  08:34

You can follow Garden Dilemmas on Facebook or online at GardenDilemmas.com and on Instagram at hashtag. Mary Elaine Stone.  Garden Dilemmas, Delights and Discoveries is produced by Alex Bartling. Thanks for coming by. I look forward to chatting again from my screen porch, and always remember to embrace the unexpected in this garden of life. Have a great day.