suzannelmathew whereabouts do you live? I see Limelight standards all the time here in Toronto because it's hardy enough to live here. Both nurseries and big box stores have them, as well as other types of Hydrangea Paniculata standards. I have a Limelight standard in my backyard and it's great! The actual hydrangea part so far grows to about 3.5 feet high (so the very top is around 7 feet high) and the branches are upright and strong--no drooping, even if pruned in the spring. One warning: it is top-heavy and so if your soil is moist/loose then the whole thing can get blown over quite a ways in higher winds. So you may want to stake it for a couple of years. Mine got blown over to quite an angle after several days of rain and then a big windstorm, and just two days ago I partially dug it up to straighten it out again.

When it comes to the Hydrangea paniculata, don't over complicate things by worrying about pruning. With all the breeding work that has been done in the last decade or two pick the variety that fits the space and assume everything will get a little bigger than the tag says. These are really no brainer plants. These are my observations with many varieties in my location (MN). If the spent flowers bother you, prune them off late fall through early spring. Get out the shears and do it. No need to fuss with hand pruners and each individual flower. Otherwise the plant will grow over them. Also, it seems like the the more lace cap type flowers tend to break off over the winter. Pruning them back will not significantly reduce their size in a given season once established. I've seen hard pruned plants grow taller than the unpruned specimen of the same variety. Right plant, right place. Hard pruning seems to create a later and more uneven bloom cycle on the plant. I prefer the plant blooming consistently around the whole plant so don't prune or just lightly. I haven't seen a consistent result of pruning and flop prevention. I think age structure are more important. Certain varieties with big, full flowers are more prone to flop with the right weather event. And with some of the new breeding in Hydrangea arborescens those of us in cold zones that don't want to deal with Hydrangea macrophylla even variation in sizes, colors, shapes and timing. Just no blues.

Some Hydrangea paniculata varieties can have problems with not enough winter chill ===>>> with that said.. if you gave up the cold north.. then give up the plants in the cold north ... probably time for you to go tropical... and learn about all the things in FL.. rather than trying to bring all or your grandmas plant down south ... i just dont get all the posts and peeps who move to warmer climes.. and then crave all the plants from where they left ... crikey.. ken

Everyone seems to have a different POV on trimming your trees. 6 Years before a hard cut . The answer might be slighting different based on branching, but I think once the primary stems are around 3/4-1 inch thick or so and of decent length , I start cutting back hard. Don't think it would be 6 years though. I let the subsequent stems from that grow out, get a bit thicker and to the length I want, and then continue to cut back hard once thick enough . The second round of stem framework may be around the 6 year mark, but not the 1st IME, the thicker the stem, the new wood that comes out and blooms is strong enough to not be a flopper. With all this WFH time, I've been kneeling/crawling on my back to see how the new wood comes out of (old wood) stems to get some understanding on how energy flows......I've yet to form a consensus though.