Thanks for the comments and accompanying photos. I really appreciate seeing this type of real garden observations rather than the published hype from growers. i hope that you will continue to update as the season progresses as far as blooms, color progression, and how well the stems support the blooms. This is my favorite type of paniculata blooms, so having real life comparisons of multiple similar plants is really useful!

what has happened to the button that allows me to like the original post?

Thanks, NHBabs, I appreciate reading real garden experiences as well - these shrubs aren’t cheap, so every bit of information we can get before we make the investment is so helpful!

I should mention that we had a fairly warm late Spring here in Michigan, so all of these hydrangeas are about two weeks ahead of schedule for my zone.

I also don’t have access to a button to like an original post…been like that for awhile now, thought it was my new phone.

Everything is looking good! I never heard of QF Fab. I have a QF I got at a swap, still living in a large pot. Have to find a spot for it. Funny, I just mentioned on another thread earlier today that I don't know why I have five white hydrangeas when I don't really like white flowers lol, but I just came in from working in the garden, and on the way in stopped to admire one of them. I don't know what it is because I got it at a swap and lost the label, but it's a paniculata and the blooms are pure white, and so pretty. Almost glowing.

But hands down my fave white is QF. I'm interested to see photos of your LQF because I like the description you give of its many blooms. May have to get a SIXTH white hydrangea lol....

:)

Dee

This is a grouping of 3 Quick Fires planted 13 years ago. Each of the 3 is about 8' tall and 10'+ wide, so they do take up some space. The fertile flowers haven't quite opened yet, but when they do they will be buzzing with pollinators. Note that the old blooms persist and detract a bit from the overall appearance.

I also have a couple Little Quick Fires just planted last year.

I prefer the varieties with fertile flowers for the pollinators, although I did plant one Fire Light a couple years ago. IMO Fire Light (and Fire Light Tidbit) look like they may have the potential to become somewhat floppy with age.

could you tell me what kind of mulch you are using?

I added Hydrangea paniculata 'Little Lime' two years ago. Actually in the fall 3 years ago so this is their 3rd growing season. I don't have a Quick Fire plant. I see only a very minor amount of budding happening right now. I also have a NOID hydrangea that seems to be a paniculata, that I got at a swap too. It was basically a little twig when I planted it two years ago. This year it has finally started to push out some growth and that may be just starting to bud up. I'm going to have to take some photos later this morning and post. Maybe someone might have an idea what variety it is.

Is my Little Lime comparable to a Quick Fire?

I also have a 'Pink Diamond' which is a paniculata but it is definitely not small.

I bought a Quickfire 'Fab' last year from Home Depot online to fill out a minimum order to get free shipping. I kept it in its original container all winter and planted it in the ground a couple of months ago. I am quite happy with it as it has done quite well for its first year. Here are a couple of pictures of it.

I let a volunteer red twig dogwood grow beside it so now it needs moving as it is growing super.

The one I really wanted was Tuff Stuff 'Ah-Ha'. Since it was small, I put it in a larger pot and it bloomed nicely a few weeks ago. Anyway a win-win by buying two to avoid shipping charges?

Thanks for the replies, all! Quickfire Fab is a new cultivar; it is supposed to be the earliest blooming paniculata (tested right here in Michigan, I believe), but so far for me at least, QF and LQF are a bit earlier, with Fab a little bit behind. Could be because Fab is a younger shrub, though, so maybe next year will be different.

My LQFs have always looked fuller and more floriforous than my full size QF; but then I see photos such as arbordave’s above and also one that NHBabs has posted before, and those QFs look a lot fuller than mine. Mine is in a lot of dappled shade, so perhaps that is why.

hc mcdole, your Fab is a lot further along than mine! It looks like some of the stems might be flopping a bit?

My full size Firelights are not floppy at all after rain, but perhaps that is because of their location on my property. I also have two Firelight trees and they flop terribly in the rain when they are in full bloom….I’ve been so disappointed!

prairemoon, I have both LQF and Little Lime and I like both of them better than their full-size counterparts; I find them to be fuller and much more floriforous!

diggerdee, I’ll be sure to post a pic of my LQFs when they are in full bloom; they form a hedge in front of my house and I’m quite pleased with them. They start turning pink fairly quickly and I like that, too!

kathy, all I know about the mulch is that I ordered 10 yards of dark brown and have been trying to get it into all my beds ever since it was delivered. I think it was Ken who suggested using a manure shovel for mulch and I find that to work well. :-)

Oh my! So pretty. I love my quickfire. Had no idea it would get so big (reading is fundamental). The fragrance is amazing and love the pollinators. Im going to try to propagate from some of the lower branches.

Perhaps it has to do with establishment time in ground, but my QFfab is not blooming earlier as the PWCC bloom chart would suggest. QF is still the earliest, followed by QFF and LQF. Other danger is, depending how widely tested, is assuming that a group of plants (i.e. Hydrangea paniculata) will bloom in the same sequence in all environments. I'm seeing some bloom earlier than normal given our extreme june heat.

Lovemycorgi - The only full size paniculata I have is the 'Pink Diamond' I believe and I haven't enough experience with it. I bought it as a standard and it just did not work out for me, it never seemed to respond well to pruning, so last year I cut it back to the ground. It came back great this spring and it's about 3ft tall at this point and it needs to be moved to a new location.

The two Little Lime I have, I have not been happy with so far. I have them in full sun and thinking it might be too hot for them there. But the biggest reason I have been disappointed is because they don't seem to grow evenly. Last year they produced some branches that just spiked up away from the rest of the shrub and it looked quite unattractive. Then it dried up late in the season, despite watering well, so I think it's the full sun. I'm giving them one last try in this location and hopefully the branches will start to grow more normally. Right now they look pretty good before blooming, so I have my fingers crossed. I love the paniculatas and I'm determined to find some that fit my garden and move them around until I get the perfect spot.

Prairiemoon, my Little Limes do the same thing, but so do some of my Little Quickfires - some branches grow very quickly, while the others grow more uniformly and maintain a more even shape. At the end of last year, I pruned back the long branches on my LQFs, but this Spring, those same branches quickly grew back! Weird.

I also really appreciate plant information from gardeners who are actually growing them. Most of what you get on the internet is regurgitated marketing press releases from wholesalers and online nurseries.

The other day I stopped by a local nursery because I'm working on a fairly large new garden and would like to add some Hydrangeas, I thought maybe something big and blowsy looking like Incrediball. Well they did have Incrediballs but unfortunately I got sucked down the paniculata rabbit hole and ended up leaving empty handed.

So many cultivars...quickfire this and that, firelights, plus the usual limes...and some I can't even remember.

Between my old garden and current garden I've grown quite a few. One of my favorites which I don't see for sale anywhere anymore is Dharuma.

@arbordave (SE MI) one cultivar that did catch my eye was Firelight tidbit. If the size range holds true, it would be a nice size to tuck into a mixed border. What about it makes you think it will be floppy?

My Little Lime is starting to bloom. I'm happy to say that so far, it has grown evenly. I did prune the whole shrub evenly in the spring. I have a bare spot where a branch was broken off at some point, but from 3 sides you can barely notice it. [g] It looks good this year. Much better than last year. Someone else, I think it was NHBabs told me that after a few years they become more uniform. I hope so. Both of mine are much more so this year and it is year 3 in the garden.

I still am looking for another paniculata for a spot in a newly renovated part of a border in front of a Taxus. I considred using the Pink Diamond but now that I've cut it back to the ground and it grew back 3ft, it is flopping. Definitely not wanting something that flops. I have another NOID hyrangea that I'm not sure if it is a paniculata or not and I'm waiting for the bloom to get an identification.

I may wait for the end of the season sales to get another paniculata too. I really like them!

QQuickfire tree planted a yr ago for my Lovely wife

prairiprairie, where are u in Ma.….Burlington here

Sue W, I have a Tidbit I planted last fall. It’s a late bloomer…so far it looks like it’ll be on par with Limelight and Little Lime. These are today’s photos (click on each photo for full, clear image):

Tidbit

Quickfire Fab:

Firelight:

Firelight Tree (the one that’s still good; the other has been ruined by flopping and branch breakage):

Little Quickfire:

Little Lime:

First time I've seen Firelight - I love that one!

Here's my Fire Light, planted 2 years ago. So far it wants to flop. Photo taken today (7/15/21)

@Sue W (CT zone 6a) - it was this photo (below) on the PW's Fire Light Tidbit webpage that made me wonder if it would have a tendency to flop as it gets larger.

Well, that's too bad. I'm not really a fan of the flopping. [g]

I would like your photo 3 times if I could, Dave.

My Firelight shrubs have never flopped. They’re quite ”leggy”, but with very sturdy stems. I don’t cut them back in Spring, I only prune the old blooms. I hide the stems with boxwood.

My Firelight trees, however, flop in the rain terribly. I can’t figure out why there’s a difference between the shrubs and the trees. I hope Tidbit doesn’t flop, I’ll report back if it does.

Quickfire Fab might be a bit of a flopper, we’ll see how the season goes - so far, most stems have remained upright, even with all the rain we’re getting in Michigan.

Here’s a pic of my Firelights behind a boxwood hedge, and then another pic taken from the backside so you can see how leggy they are. (not sure why Houzz cuts my pics down, but click on them for the full pic with increased clarity).

Wow, thanks for all the pictures @lovemycorgi z5b SE michigan. I did plant a Little Quickfire last season which is currently buried in other plants that have grown larger than I expected. So far I like it though. Firelight Tidbit will likely find it's way home with me soon. I just recommended it to a friend who was looking to fill a hole in her garden and the size seems perfect.

The reports of flopping and breaking of the paniculatas on standards confirm my thoughts when I saw them at the nursery. It doesn't make sense to me that they use the larger cultivars for this purpose.

@arbordave (SE MI) I grew Quickfire in my former small suburban garden where plants had to earn their space. I used to prune it fairly hard in the spring but felt it was well worth growing. Now that I have the space, it's time to find a spot.

As far as flopping goes, in the spring of 2018 I planted a Vanilla Strawberry here. For the first couple of years it was a floppy mess. But like lovemycorgi I've just been pruning off old flowers. So now it's in year four and not flopping although it is getting huge.

Sue

Oh, @hyed I was born and raised in Woburn. I haven't lived there since the mid 80s but I do go back occasionally to visit friends. Lots of wonderful memories!

This is my ”bad” Firelight tree. Left half broken off by a squirrel jumping onto it from a nearby trellis, right side drooping and ready to break off from the weight of the rain-soaked blooms. The entire tree is tilting because it’s so heavy on the right side. Wish I would have purchased Quickfire trees. More rain today in Michigan, I guess it’s time to build an ark.

Went to our small town center and saw these beautiful hydrangeas yesterday.

Even the front of this home or business had lots of dwarf hydrangeas.

From the sidewalk

hyed: Lurking for the moment; I live in Lexington. If you want to see my garden let me know. I have lots of plants I can divide.....

Marie

HYED. Just saw this post and saw you posted ! Glad to see you around.

Hi Marie , check me out Fackbook Ed Doherty Burlington ma Facebook

Apologies, others: OT and hijack

\Hi Ed,

Oh, I have to be motivated to use facebook! I think I turned off notifications.

If you'd like visit, and I always love visitors, let me know and we can figure out a way to communicate. I don't know what it is about FB but it seemed to be time sinkhole. So I avoided it! According to some friends, I've missed out on social lives and events for half the world's population, not to mention friends' and acquaintences'.

Pollinators still humming around the Quick Fires today. Lots of bee and wasp species, plus a number of butterfly species, including these:

Arbordave, thank you for the information about fertile flowering hydrangeas. You sent me on a learning spree! I had no idea. Learned something new today and I'm pretty jazzed about it. :-)

You're welcome, popmama. The varieties with the large, showy or "mophead" type blooms consisting of mostly sterile flowers are very popular, but they don't offer much for the pollinators. I do see an occasional pollinator visiting the blooms on my Fire Light, but it's nothing like the activity around the Quick Fires. A few weeks ago at Morton Arboretum I saw this planting (photo) of what I assume is Invincibelle Spirit smooth hydrangea (bottlebrush buckeye in the background), and I did observe a honeybee on one of the blooms, but overall not many pollinators were visiting. Although I noticed that PW's has come out with a new pollinator friendly introduction in the Invincibelle line called "Invincibelle Lace".