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limelight hydrangeas, can they really handle FULL sun?

8 years ago

i have a giant pine in my front yard and it gets full sun all day, literally. I really would love some big beautiful limelight hydrangeas bordering that tree but I'm afraid it will be too intense for them and they will burn. has anyone had success with limelight hydrangeas in all day direct sunlight?

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Comments (5)

ruth_mi
8 years ago
Where are you located and what is your zone?
NHBabs z4b-5a NH
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
What Ruth asked about location needs answering before you can get an answer. Where I live, no problem, but in TX or elsewhere in the southern US, it's a different story. If you don't want to have to remember to add zone and location each time you post on the GW side of things, then you can add it to your profile so that it shows up in your posts (but my understanding is that it won't show up in your Houzz posts.)

Go to Your Houzz in the upper right of every page, click Edit Profile, and on the left side click advanced settings. Well down the advanced settings page is a blank labeled Climate Zone for Garden Forums along with a link to find your zone.

If you add info on your state or the nearest large city you will get even better information since zone only relates to average coldest winter temperatures. You can do this by adding it to your Profile Information under First Name (Publicly Displayed) on the first page under Edit Profile.

Then return to the top of the page and click Done Editing.
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Full sun in the northern half of the country works best. I have to provide afternoon shade to paniculatas in this area so, yours will likely appreciate it too. The leaves tends to dry out and brown out if given full sun. The same happens to the blooms which then do not last long. Some sun exposure will be fine, say 2-4 hours, until 11am-12pm and then give them shade. By the way, I am referring to 11am-12pm in the summer months as opposed to now. Now they could get full sun since the sun is "weaker" this time of the year. But be aware that, the more sun, the faster Limelight and Little Lime will turn white so that too is something worth evaluating when looking for a spot. I placed my Little Lime in bright shade and so far, that makes the blooms stay lime colored all the time. Enjoy!
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When I first started gardening, all those terms were a little unclear also. However, based on experience and lots of reading, this is what I have learned: a) full sun means that about 6-8 hours of sun is sufficient. Again, for some plants like veggies, more sun is better, but it doesn't have to be all day sun to thrive and produce well. For example, in your Texas growing conditions (OP), you are probably getting about 12-14 hours of sun if your yard were fully open to sun all day long. b) partial sun - means morning sun and afternoon shade, not filtered light in a mostly shady spot like I used to think c) plants that like shade -- some plants are supposed to do fine in shade or even want only shade, but other plants that can handle shade, if you give them just a bit of sun, either in morning or afternoon, and they do even better. an example is impatiens and purple queen. impatiens also did better with filtered sun than with just plain old shade like the label says that it can only do shade d) fuchsia - no matter what the label says, it can't grow in my area even in shade, so forget it every year when they show up in the nurseries
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luis_pr
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
As previously hinted, your location will indicate whether the leaves will be able to handle the full sun or not during the summer months. But, when you are forced to dream of Limelight Hedges in your house because it is too warm in the summer (like I am), just go to this link and enjoy the pictures of hydrangea hedges in Michigan (?).

I know, I know... I am so bad but the pictures are soooo good! Make sure you close your mouth though!

http://www.deborahsilver.com/blog/tag/hydrangea-limelight/
Sara Thornton
Original Author
8 years ago
im in los angeles :/
NHBabs z4b-5a NH
8 years ago
In LA, I wouldn't recommend full sun. With Hydrangeas, if the plant gets too much sun or gets too dry, the flowers fade quickly to a less-attractive tan and will spend little time in the lime part of the color shift. I would give it a couple hours of morning sun or plant it where it gets bright shade almost all day.

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