Congrats on your Limelight! You will just love it.

No, you do not need to fertilize it now. Just make sure you water it well.

Also, check out the threads on how to prune a Limelight - if you do a search, you will find them.

Good luck and post a pic if you can!

I have a couple of limelights in part shade areas. They are doing well. Limelights will do better with more sun. They will grow tall and provide more blooms. I normally make selections of branches to keep as sometimes this shrubs gets too prolific and branches can break under the weight of the blooms - especially after a rainfall.

I agree with ostrich, don't fertilize. Just concentrate on watering well. You can add some good compost in the soil. Later perhaps when the weather starts getting you can add some composted manure.

Thanks! I've been reading back through the archive all afternoon, in fact; fascinating stuff.

So you think the light will be ok? If it grows towards the sun it will put most of itself in all day sun anyway, so I think it will be ok - fingers crossed...

I put a fair bit of compost in and around when I installed it this afternoon - hopefully it was enough! The soil seems to drain fairly well - I watered the hole before I put it in and even though it initially puddled, it all drained out within about 2 minutes or so (that's good, yes?)

Sorry - so many really newbie questions. I really appreciate the help! It's a beautiful thing and, even though I didnt' realise it got quite as big as it does, it will actually PERFECT for this spot when it reaches full size.

Are there any signs of problems I should look out for over the next couple of weeks as it settles in?

divamum, my Limelight is in full sun and it's beautiful! The blooms may not be as green as the ones in some light shade, but they will be fine.

These guys are pretty hardy, so you should not have any problem! Just make sure that you water deeply and sufficiently over the next few weeks.

Well, it seems to be happy - it's burst into bloom since I planted it on Tuesday and already looks bigger! I think I got lucky with a VERY healthy plant, but it just seems to be happy to spread out.

Still not sure exactly how much light it will get because it hasn't been full sun since then, but I think it's probably 4-5hrs or so, plus dappling for 3hrs on top of that. Here's hoping!

Thanks again for the feedback

my limelight actually gets the same - morning shade and afternoon sun, and is doing beautifully, in spite of repeated abuses over the past 2 summers. yours seems happy already and i bet it will do fine in it's new spot! enjoy it!

Well, it's been in the ground about a week, has visibly grown and is blooming like a crazy thing. Is it supposed to do that this late in the saeason?!

Regardless, it's a lovely thing - I'm so happy I spotted it, and at half price no less! I wish there had been two :)

I love my limelight. It has huge blooms. Unfortunately the blooms and branches are on the ground due to heavy rains. Can I prune the blooms this fall sometime to dry them and keep them indoors? Does anyone have advice on if and when I can do this? The blooms are starting to get a bit of pink on them. Any advice on this and the drooping after rains would be greatly appreciated.

Auntie Clara, mine were the same too - the beautiful blooms were so heavy after the rain that they bent the branches and were almost laying on the ground.

In the end, I staked them and they are now looking much better. I was instructed by the guy at my local nursery to deadhead the blooms when they are done, then leave the branches alone over the winter. When spring comes, prune hard and encourage new growth.

Now, if you do a search, you will find a previous thread on the exact same topic about the drooping issue.

Good luck!

auntie_clara,
yes, you could prune some branches and dry flowers for the winter bouquettes.
In order to dry properly you have to cut them when flowers will have a slightly papery feel and look. Those will dry perfectly. If you cut the branch with still white and juicy flowers they will simply shrivels, but will not dry.

With maturity Limelight should hold it blooms up nicely. Mine also flopped as a young plant after a rain, but now it has strong upright stems and it never flops even though the flowers a huge.

Just one note to auntie clara. The blooms dry well in upright position. You must also spread some old newspapers to catch the pollens that fall off the blooms otherwise, it will be messy.

re the flopping blooms. because the blooms can get too heavy, I make a selection of which blooms to retain and which to deadhead. I prefer to leave the blooms on the branches that are strong and thick while removing blooms from underbranches that are thin and straggly. In anycase, the cut branches will form new branches that will also start producing new blooms (just can't remember whether that will be in the next season or the following season). So cutting the blooms off will actually result in doubling the blooms.

Ianna

Thank you all for the wonderful advice! You are invaluable! (((HUGS)))