" I had thought about a limelight hydrangea (or little lime), but I'm
afraid they can't handle the western exposure/afternoon sun and heat."

Sure they can- I'm 6b as well and my Limelights get full blazing sun from 7am to 7pm and always look marvelous. Lots of smaller paniculatas are just the same- Pinky Winky, Quickfire, Little Quickfire, Bobo, and many more.

how about a pic of the project area ... ken

Sure - Here you go. I was thinking of going with a straight-up Limelight hydrangea, but I was warned that they get too big, which is why I began thinking about the Little Lime - but as you can see, my 3 knock-out roses have gotten quite big, and probably take up the same space as a mature Limelight. Now that cearbhaill has assured me that Limelights can do well in "blazing sun," I may just give that option a try - but I'm open to any others. Thanks.

A couple of Little Limes would be nice there (or Bobo if you want lil' guys). Encore azaleas would be great too.

I have found Milky Spore Disease a good thing to give to Japanese Beetles. Available at less cost than new shrubs. Have Double Red Knockout Roses, and did not find a beetle on them, although I did find some on the double pink, and some other shrubs. One dose, following directions, seems to go a couple of Summers.

Abelias are super tough, pretty, and flower consistently. I have two Edward Gouchers--one I keep sheared for size, and one I let grow however it wants. Both flower the same, pruning doesn't affect that. Hummingbirds and bees love them. They aren't as showy as some other flowering shrubs, but are very pretty and are so easy to care for. I've never had any kind problem with mine in the 20+ yrs I've been growing them.

I came across this one recently, and really like the leaf color:

http://www.monrovia.com/plant-catalog/plants/947/kaleidoscope-abelia/

I like kaliedescope abelia too. Loropetalums, Forsythia, and hibiscus syriacus would also work. Japanese beetles aren't picky, they eat many things. Spraying diluted dawn dish soap on plants helps with control of pests. You may need to re-apply after rain.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Loropetalums wouldn't do well in zone 6 (as far as I've read anyway), and hibiscus is a favorite of the dreaded JBs. I may consider Abelia for another place in my garden (I've never planted them, but they look great), but they seem too small for this space. I think I'll go with the hydrangea (Little Lime or Limelight) and see how it goes. Thanks for all the help.

profsuzy, I'm not that far from you, JBs were terrible here too. I took this pic in town near our local farmer's market this morning. Believe me they get no TLC. Would you consider KO other than a double? If these are deadheaded they will bloom 'till mid December.

I saw some abelia grandiflora 'rose creek' yesterday at lowes for $5 each. They were 3 gallon containers. They apparently weren't getting sunlight on one side, so they are a little lanky and will probably need hard pruning, maybe your local lowes was smarter.

And you can plant something that blooms before the jbs come and has foliage that's not appealing to them

why does the replacement need to be smaller? What are other plants that are staying?

and what are the criteria besides not being jb fodder ?

hydrangeas bloom much later than roses but have great variety, like roses other than that I don't think of one as being a replacement for the other

quickfie is very big, at least as big as limelight. Great color progression and among the first of the hydrangeas to bloom

most of what i learned about shrubs especially hydrangea paniculatas I learned here, especially nhbabs

marie

,

Thanks Marie. I've found that the jbs arrive in early June here and stick around most of the summer, so anything that blooms before then would not be of much interest the rest of the summer.

As for size, I don't actually want a replacement that will be smaller. My 3 existing knock-out roses have grown together into a mass about 5 or 6 feet tall and wide. The space I've got could definitely handle something even taller.

The location is something of a raised bed (bordered on 2 sides by a retaining wall, and there are Stella D'Oro lilies around the perimeter of the bed. I like the color (whitish-green) of the Limelight, but I'll definitely look into QuickFire, since it has a longer bloom period. Thanks for the suggestion.

My Quickfire starts blooming here in late June or early July and continues until frost, about 4 weeks longer than Pinky Winky. QF is about 6' in all directions while PW is 8' tall and 12' wide. YMMV as far as bloom timing since you are farther south, but I don't expect that the JBs will bother any H. paniculata at all since they don't in my garden. Limelight can get to 8', but IMO having something that is tall enough to brush against the bottom edge of the deck would be fine aesthetically. Because QF has lacy blooms and really stiff stems, the blooms never droop; same with PW. Limelight has much fuller, denser blooms and may droop some after rain, and Little Lime has somewhat less stiff stems so I don't like the shrub's form quite as much. There are a number of different kinds I've not mentioned, which can be as short as about 3 1/2' or as tall as 15' or so, and have differing degrees of branch stiffness and flower panicle density. I have two others, 'Dharuma' and Fire and Ice (AKA 'Wimm's Red'), both of which have the lacier looking flowers and relatively early bloom that I prefer along with relatively stiff branches. But there are many with the much denser flower panicles of various sizes and differing degrees of branch stiffness, mature flower color, and bloom time. You will want to balance your feelings about the appeal of the particular panicle form, fall color, and bloom time along with height to choose which is most appealing to you.

Quickfire early July in my garden

Quickfire fall color

The purple flowers are Clematis 'Little Bas' which is carried by Brushwood Nursery. If you look carefully at the second photo (you can expand it by clicking on it) you may notice the foliage of another clematis growing up this side. I like growing clematis with a longer distance between the leaves on hydrangeas, so 'Little Bas' is perfect for this. It blooms in my garden as QF is budding and starting to bloom, and then the poofy seed heads accompany the bloom of the QF as they shade to pale pink and then darken to the color in the second photo.

If you are interested, there are a couple more photos of QF plus some photos of Pinky Winky in this thread.

OK, now I'm excited. I've grown clematis before, but only as a climbing vine on a light post. I'd never thought about planting clematis to grow up through a shrub. Assuming I plant the QF hydrangea this fall, would I just plant the clematis near (how near?) the base of the hydrangea in the spring? Sorry, but you've sparked my curiosity now!

If you are doing QF hydrangea, you want the clematis about 3 1/2' away from the hydrangea's base since the QF will grow to about 6' wide and you want the Clematis just outside the ultimate drip line of the hydrangea. I usually provide the clematis a temporary bamboo and string support for the first year or two, by which time the Hydrangea is large enough to support the Clematis. Little Bas is a type 3 prune clematis, which means you cut it back to a couple of pairs of buds per stem each winter and it will regrow every year. This keeps the flowers the entire length of the vine, whereas if you don't prune it only blooms at the tip top.

I've tried planting clematis at the base of floppier-branched shrubs like Lindera/spicebush, but they just pulled the bush out of shape, so now I only use stiff-stemmed shrubs for clematis support: lilacs, stiff-stemmed H. paniculata (some are too floppy), and one type of small dogwood tree. Sometimes I use a smaller trellis (3'-4') to support the base of the clematis and then let the top of the vine wander into a looser shrub.

Good! This is progress. I initially saw the photo on my phone and but now on my laptop I get a much better idea of the space. Another plus to a big hydrangea: you would enjoy looking at from the deck.

The primary downside to any hydrangea paniculata is that it greens up late. Either decide you don't care or plan on planting something in front or at its feet that might look pretty in spring. However, you don't want to hide the Hydrangea when it blooms or block out its sunlight. This is where some bulbs or earlier blooming daylilies might look good.

But don't make more work for yourself than necessary. Maybe just start with the hydrangea and clematis. BTW, I'd suggest you go to some nurseries now and scout out the hydrangea's you are thinking about. They may be getting low on stock.

Anyone, I wonder if a delicate-appearing kerria japonica "Picta" might work in front of the hydrangea. This tough variegated plant It is very light and airy and wouldn't distract from the hydrangea when it is in bloom. The green foliage would be a good foil for the japonica foliage. The kerria could also tolerate being at the foot of the hydrangea. Neither one needs a lot of water.

Given dimensions of the space would OP need two Quickfires or one?

One QF is ~6' wide, so it's up to profsuzy to decide whether 11' is too wide.