Any herbicide applications?

No herbicides. It is my daughter's hydrangea but I have several myself and have never had any of them do this or seen anyone else's do this.

Is she sure it's a limelight? It looks somewhat like a virus, but the virus only infects macs.

If it was a macrophylla, I would suggest HCMV virus as a possibility. but that ONLY affects macs - no other hydrangea species.

It does look very suspiciously like chemical damage. No weed and feed or other weed killer used on lawn? No chances of any herbicide drift from neighbors?

It looks like the mulberries and raspberries I tried to kill with fall herbicide applications. The looked like that the first year and the next year returned to normal the second.. Not sure if Hydrangea paniculata is tough enough to do that.

Thank you all so much. The only chemical that might have possibly come in contact with it would be insecticides from the company that sprays outside for bugs. I guess that's a possibility.

Please reconsider spraying insecticides! The lawn companies all seem to be pushing tick and mosquito control this year. As if the 80% decline in insects since 1970 isn’t enough. Don’t you wdnt birds and butterflies??

This destroyed a couple of my limelights. At first Extension thought herbicide damage (and yes I had applied some, so this was a definite possibility.) But when I sent samples (Penn State extension) they came back with a disease called Asters Yellow. Look for pics online and see if they match what you have. I destroyed the worst ones, severely cut back the rest -fingers crossed for summer '21. (PS - I think I just found this on my climbing hydrangea, too - and no herbicide was applied near it)