In Z5, Bobo is an earlier bloomer so it would start looking with some/few small blooms by mid June-ish while LL would bloom later.

In my area Bobo and Quickfire start blooming at about the same time, usually the last week of June. Little Lime blooms 3-4 weeks later.

My H. paniculata varieties are leafing out now. Last weekend the leaves were the size of a quarter. I don't grow Bobo, but know others who do. All of the H. paniculata varieties in my garden leaf out at about the same time.

There are several threads with photos of Bobo in the Perennials forum such as this one, but most start showing photos in early July since that's when they really begin to look photogenic.

This is from the middle of June last year. The three BoBos are in the bottom right area of the mulch just below the rose.

I think I may get 3 bobos. Can I dig out my ES now and put in a pot?

You can. It's early in the season but you should try to get the entire root system. Otherwise you probably should wait and dig them out when they are dormant.

Also the light requirements for the two are different. I find that ES requires no more than morning sun and BoBos take all day sun without issue.

NWalton how long have you had yours and how big do yours get?

Can bobos take shade? My bed gets morning sun and afternoon shade.

Some shade, they do well in full sun. My BoBos are constantly under attack from deer. The bushes are probably 2 x 2 ft after 3 years from 1 gallon containers. So they stay small. Probably the smallest of hydrangea paniculata that's readily available.

NWalton what else do you have in that bed with the purple flowers?

Those are spirea bushes. I usually trim them up after they flower.

'Emily', it has been my repeated experience with "Bobo" that it is close to full bloom by the 3rd week of July.

Here are several as of today (these are in full sun):

Those look more like little lime hydrangeas.

NWalton, Bobo looks quite a bit like Little Lime, but it stays shorter. They look like Bobo to me.

Those look more like little lime hydrangeas

Definitely "Bobos". Any resemblance in this picture may be due to the fact the blooms were not fully open.

When in complete bloom "Bobo" flowers are bright white whereas I find LL has that greenish tinge for its flowers for an extended time. (And as Babs said, I would bet that "Bobo's" biggest dimension either way would be 4 feet including flowers.).

My mistake! I didn't realize the similarities and I own both...

My Bobo never bloomed this year. It was new last year and did not bloom for me, but I was not surprised at that. I am guessing that it is in too much shade. I have never fertilized it. Any suggestions?

For a plant that was new last year, it may just need time.

How much sun is it getting now, and generally where are you?

rouge21_gw(5 (but I am betting 6 with climate change)(Ontario))

Your Bobo's are beautiful! I just bought 5 for the side of my house, and was having a bit of buyers remorse because I keep seeing all of the beautiful Limelight's in my neighborhood, but was attracted to the Bobo's because of their flowering. The side of my house that I am planting them on is somewhat narrow, in the sense I didn't want anything too large that would grow into my neighbors driveway, which is why I thought Bobo's were a great fit. I live in zone 6a, and the side of the house get's constant sun, do you have any suggestions on how to maximize their size so they get as large as yours? The soil there is clay, so I know I need to add my own, but anything else? Thanks!

"do you have any suggestions on how to maximize their size so they get as large as yours?"

Normal care and patience. Compost top dressing in early spring and again in early summer, decent mulch, regular deep watering, and stay out of their way.

You want moderate strong growth to be able to support those blooms. If you push growth with fertilizer you'll get faster but weaker growth.

Compost top dressing in early spring and again in early summer, decent mulch, regular deep watering, and stay out of their way.

cearbhaill has summarized it perfectly!

(Of course it is a matter of preference but even if "Bobo" and "Limelight" or even "Little Limelight" were the same size (BB is smaller) I still prefer BB).

Thank you both!