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White Hydrangea Sugesstions

CraighBCraighB Posts: 758
in Plants
Hi guys,

I am doing my mum's front garden for her and she would love a white Hydrangea. Her garden is not the biggest so it would have to be quite a compact variety and she prefers the more rounded heads rather than the lacecap ones. It would need to be around 5ft max.

So I have seen Hydrangea Little Lime, which starts off with lime green flowers and gradually turns white and then a pale pink. Looks lovely!

Are there any more you can recommend? 

Thanks
Craigh
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Posts

  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    @Fairgirl likes the oak leaved, quercifolia varieties in her garden.   I like the paniculatas as they flower on new wood so can be prunedhard in spring and not have flowering affected by frost damage to last year's wood which can be the case with the lace caps and mopheads.  Many of the paniculatas start white or slightly green and then progress thru white or cream before fading to pink.   Makes for a longer season of interest.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    edited October 2019
    Can't go far wrong with H. paniculata 'Limelight' or 'Little Lime'. H. arborescens 'Annabelle' is another classic one, it can flop a bit under the weight of it's flower heads; the less rich the soil, and the less you cut it back in later winter, the less prone to flopping it would be. (Like paniculata types the harder you cut it back, the bigger the flower heads are).
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • CraighBCraighB Posts: 758
    @Obelixx Thanks I will check out the oak leaves variety. Yes I did read about the benefit of being able to cut back hard in spring and I guess you could to some extent keep the size down by doing this too?

    @WillDB Apparently Annabelle can get huge? I know my mum loves this one but I think it would be way too big for the garden :) 
  • OmoriOmori Posts: 1,674
    What about ‘Mme. Emile Mouillare’? 
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Hi @CraighB- take a look at Golden Hill nurseries
    https://signaturehydrangeas.co.uk/about-our-hydrangeas-1-w.asp
    I recntly received 2 new ones [Soeur Therese] from them. Excellent service, beautifully packaged, and huge variety.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    edited October 2019
    I've never seen Annabelle much larger than 1.5m, perhaps if you let her grow with no pruning whatsoever she'll attain a greater size.
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • dibdobdebdibdobdeb Posts: 23
    I can vouch for 'Little Lime' - planted 2 earlier this year and they are flowering their socks off. Kept them well watered during dry summer and they are now enjoying the seemingly never-ending rain ☔️

    @fairygirl - that's a really interesting link, not sure I have ever seen such a huge variety. I have added it to my favourites for future refence!


  • CraighBCraighB Posts: 758
    @Omori Thanks will check that one out!

    @Fairygirl Thank you, have just had a look and I never knew there were so many varieties! Going to have a good look through them later :)

    @dibdobdeb That's good to hear! I do love the look of it and think I am going to go with Little Lime but I may put another white variety in the garden too. 
  • CraighBCraighB Posts: 758
    Has anyone got or had Limelight. It is supposed to be bigger than Little Lime but I wondered how big it actually gets? Some websites say 2.5 meters tall and wide and some say 1.5 meters high.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I think you have to bear in mind that your own growing conditions will have an effect on size. It happens with all sorts of plants and shrubs. Perfect conditions will mean a plant usually grows to it's full size, and vice versa. 
    You can also prune to keep within bounds as @WillDB said.  Removing old and/or damaged stems for instance, will instantly drop the height a bit. You can also prune back by a specific amount, which will normally mean a loss of flowers for a season, but will keep shrubs [of all kinds] in a size that suits. The secret is to do it so that they still look natural, rather then being sheared into a pudding shape. 
     
    In a similar vein, I once recommended that someone pruned their rhododendron back [it was too big for the space they had, but they liked it ] and got a snarky comment about saying that from another poster. 'Just because you can doesn't mean you should' was the general tone. Whatever that means. I can't exactly recall my reply, but I expect it was along the lines of 'well if you want to sit in the dark all day - crack on - leave it to grow '.
    They grow very well here - often too well  ;)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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