Firelight is one of my favourites, even though it was in a bad spot, rabbit pruned and only had a couple stems and flowers the first few years lol. I moved it last summer and rabbit-caged it for the winter and it is currently almost 3 feet tall and developing flower buds now. The blooms are especially nice in colour. Blooms before my Vanilla Strawberry and Limelight.

Thx, VStapes. Does Firelight also change color before Vanilla Strawberry and Limelight?

VStapes, that is great to know! Thanks!!!

I had Vanilla Strawberry before and I was NOT impressed as it bloomed so late in my Zone 3 garden in Calgary before. By the time it started to bloom, the growing season was kinda over.... hmm....

I am wondering how many years ago did you plant your Firelight? If it is 3 feet tall now after a few years, it really is a lot smaller than advertised then....

BTW, luis_pr, my Little Lime is just blooming now, at the same time as my Quick Fire!!!

Luis, I'm not sure about the colour change. I will try and take note/photos this year.

Ostrich, I agree VS is late in blooming and Limelight even later into August, even though I do love Limelight. FL was planted in Sept 2016, but didn't get very much sun at all. I also find things don't do as well for me when I plant in fall. It was rabbit pruned to a couple of stems the first few years for sure. I moved it to a temporary spot in spring 2020, and then to its current spot later in 2020. I don't think it's anywhere near mature size and should start to put on some growth as it settles in and if I can keep those pesky rabbits away in the winter. I moved all my hydrangeas last year and currently they are all about the same size, VS might have the edge by a few inches LOL. We are experiencing a drought currently as well.

A great year for hydrangeas here, the heat has really encouraged them to flower early.

Firelight started blooming just after Quickfire. It’s about as tall as the bucket behind it. A photo from today. From left to right - Firelight, Phantom, Quickfire, Limelight, Little Lamb, and another Limelight.

I wish I could find Little Lamb. It's so pretty.

Frozebudd, thank you - they are STUNNIING! How tall are thry now please? Simply gorgeous!

Ostrich, 'Little Lamb' remains at about 4.5 ft and 'Firelight' about 3.5 ft tall. I'll take photos of the latter when the blooms develop a bit more.

'Little Lamb' as of the other day. Yes, my lawn was that browned out, we're only now receiving the FIRST soaking rain of the summer, all other rains were a mere 1/4 inch or less, a terribly DRY growing season!

Little Lamb has been discontinued by Proven Winners. I believe it is still subject to a US Plant Patent so it will be illegal for others to propagate, grow and sell until that has expired. IMO, there is better on the market now.

What I like about 'Little Lamb' is it's earlier flowering than many with this size of bloom, plants bulk up quickly and its zone 3 reliability, this IS a very though climate! I haven't noted any major drawbacks, other than maybe a bit less substance to the blooms and this is overcome by ensuring decent good irrigation when need required.

That’s too bad Little Lamb is discontinued by PW. Hopefully it gets distributed elsewhere. I like the large bloom heads with a multitude of smaller sized dainty flowers.

Firelight has been colouring up nicely. It’s brighter than Quickfire. It is still about the height of a bucket for me. Here it is on the far left:

And bucket for size comparison of Firelight:

Annabelle is doing well this year too, beside hosta Winter Snow:

FrozeBudd, aren't you glad that we got that soaking rain, FOR THE FIRST TIME in many, many weeks!? I LOVE IT! Now I just want some warmth back too.... LOL!

I had Little Lamb in my yard many years ago, when I was in Zone 5. It tended to lay very low and was kind of floppy. Yours looks much better!

Prairie_NorthRose, how old again is your Fire Light? I am wondering how many years it has taken for yours to be at this height?

What kind of eventual height do we expect for Firelight to reach in our climate here in Edmonton, AB?

Ostrich, this rain was the very first real rain of the entire summer for me, any bit of a thunderstorm had given scant moisture no more than 1/4 inch here and there! Yes, am elated and relieved for the 2 inches received and now hope some degree of heat returns!

Nope, my 'Little Lamb' has always been of sturdy growth, never floppy, seems to excel in this climate when others are not as robust.

My 'Firelight' is now becoming beefy, had taken a good four years to do so, fertilizing seemed to really help, hopefully it really shows off in 2022! As for maxed out height, I yet have no clue!

FrozeBudd, I hear you!!! It has been such a dry summer that my poor apple trees have been under much stress and are dropping lots of apples now, and the leaves look rather dry. I am grateful for this soaking rain and am hoping that we will get more soon!

So after 4.5 years, the Fire Light is still only 3.5 ft tall??? That is good! I am looking for something not too big and that may just be the ticket then... LOL!

Praire_northrose, thanks for the lovely pics! How old is your Fire Light, if I may ask?

Ostrich, I had to go back and read the old hydrangea thread to get an idea of when I planted Firelight, sounds like I planted it five years ago, wow where has the time gone. It wasn’t in very good soil the first few years, it got moved last year and now it’s doing better. It hasn’t been fertilized for ages. Typically I find all my hydrangeas die back to the snow line. The colour is fantastic this year, a very bright pink.

PNR, the last few winters have been tough on my paniculatas, even a handful of years ago I was having much better success with most of them wintering to almost the tips, the 'Quickfires' and 'Little Lamb' being some of the best in that regards. Heck my regular 'Quickfire' had become a monster of a good 7 ft tall, too big for my liking, then boom all varieties being hard hit a few years ago, but 'Little Lamb' situated in the garden patch had fared the best. So yours tend to always die back, Calgary's extremes are a bit harder on many plants, but the climate is getting that way pretty well all round about, sigh!

FrozeBudd, yes we had a rough season a couple of years ago, I think it was due to a wet August where the plants were in a lush growing green phase, then hit by sudden prolonged freezing temps. Leaves were frozen green everywhere, the hydrangeas never got to flowering. The following year there was significant dieback, I think they didn’t have time to harden off. Even my Snow Pavement rugosa rose died back to nearly ground level.

That is amazing you’ve had paniculata hydrangeas hardy to the tips before. Usually about 2/3 or more of the canes die off for me, to about the snow line. Hopefully yours will return to their glory. I’ve noticed peat moss deteriorating over a few years, I may need to refresh my beds soon.

Though the heat has really encouraged everything to flower early. Here is Firelight today, the colour is intense!

Also not hydrangea related but here is some rudbeckia Autumn Colors which I was originally inspired by you to plant again. Nice to have some fall colour with these and the hydrangeas.

PNR, I'm really liking your compact growing hydrangeas, they look great! Your 'Firelight' is nicely colored up, mine is now only getting speckled with pink and is still throwing all sorts of new blooms, gonna get nipped by frost while still actively growing! It had been reluctant to kick into gear over the last few years and been boosting it with fertilizer, maybe a bit too much this spring though!

Ahhh, yes, rudbeckia, never can go wrong with them!

"Firelight'