the link states zone 4 to 7...

which means .. to me.... it all depends on your gardens micro climate... and when the next z3 winter comes thru and damages it ... it might be this year.. or 5 years from now ... a 1 year warranty might not be good enough ....

bigbox is famous for bringing in zone inappropriate stock.. so be leery ...

one clue might be.. if you see any others in the general area .... if the neighbors grow it easily...then you probably can ....

it probably all boils down to whether you like rolling dice.. sometimes you win.. sometimes you dont ... which then also makes it a budget issue .... if you arent independently wealthy...

ken

Thanks, luis and ken!

Luis, I have read rather different reports on this one - some stated that it's going to be 6' tall, some say it's compact and will stay under 4'.... it's all over the map! Actually, the main thing for me is whether it blooms early or not. Here in our extreme climate with short summers, being an early bloomer is critical. For things like Pinky Winky, they won't bloom until August, then September comes around and summer is over! So I am most curious about that. I know that other varieties blooms earlier (e.g. Quick Fire which I have and love, as we; as well as Firelight and Quick Fire Fab), but I am looking for something with a more lacey look, so this one is curious to me.

Ken, I am actually grateful that both big box stores and greenhouses around where I live bring in zone 4,5, or even 6 plants, so that we can get to try them out for fun! Some actually do well in the end. For instance, smoke bush is a good example. It will not be huge like it does in a warmer area, but here we can possibly keep it as a smaller shrub or even perennial! So the zone thing is less of a concern to me (plus I live in a central area in the city, so the microclimate here is favourable!) than how early it blooms.

I just planted Invincibelle Lace so I hope that will give me some lace look hydrangeas but I want MORE! LOL!

Thanks again!

Check Sweet Summer, Strawberry Sundae, Little QF, Little Lime and Fire Light Tidbit. The description for them mentions early summer flowering but I would still somehow try to confirm that. I understand your need for early blooms though.

Paniculatas are generally bad choices in my neck of woods. They like to bloom just as my temperatures are in daily 100°F or higher and thus, the blooms prematurely turn from white to brown. An early bloomer works better blooming-wise here. Little Lime and Little QF are my current choices. A few times, regular blooming paniculatas may show some pink but not much since the high temps last from July through September. When does summer "end" for you and things cool down?

Enjoy your smoke bush! I have two varieties of it, as tall as the attic in my 1-story house. Three smoke bushes if I count an unexpected new tree that suddenly started growing in front of the house (probably thanks to the birds). Their fall foliage is nice too.

Luis, thank you! I will need to look into Sweet Summer and Strawberry Sundae! I grew Vanilla Strawberry in Calgary before but that bloomed so late it was not useful. But I guess Strawberry Sundae should be different, though I get confused by their similar names! LOL!

It is interesting that you have the opposite problems than what we have here in Zone 3/4! Here, even the paniculatas grow slowly and not so big. See, we warm up by July but then it cools down by September...! Such a short summer!!! YIKES! My Quick Fire has this beautiful pink colour now, rather than that awful panty hose brown that I used to get by August when I was in Zone 5! My paniculatas in Calgary were no more than 4 feet tall and I expect them to be about the same here in Edmonton. I really wonder how big Little Quick Fire would get in our climate here, since the original Quick Fire does not even get that big here anyway?

My Little Lime here has bloomed quite early and it is absolutely delightful, even after just one year in the ground! It looks so much more refined than Limelight, and I prefer it this way.

How are people's experience with Quick Fire Fab? It's supposed to be an early early bloomer, but then is it just me or does it somehow look a bit gawdy? OK, I have not seen it in person but it's just from its publicity photos, so please pardon me if I am totally wrong.... LOL!

"I really wonder how big Little Quick Fire would get in our climate here, since the original Quick Fire does not even get that big here anyway?" - Interesting question. In the upper limit of winter hardiness (z3), paniculatas may display the behavior that I see in macrophyllas when planted in zone 6 or colder: stems die during winter if it is "very cold". Have you grown paniculatas long enough over in Edmonton to see if this occurs there?

Luis, I have not grown them long enough in Edmonton to tell. However, I had grown paniculatas in Calgary for many years and interestingly, there were only a few branches that would die back every winter, but there was no die back to the ground at all. Curiously, Calgary is an even tougher place than Edmonton to grow plants due to the chinooks there.