I'm not personally familiar with Little Lime but here, Limelight can get massive! 10-12' tall and 8-10' wide is pretty typical. It would be an ordeal to keep to 6'. I'd go with the Little Lime.

I can personally confirm what @gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9) said. I donated my huge Limelight to the local Master Gardeners - their ’dig team’ dug it up in fall when going dormant using pry bars to get roots out. I replaced it with a Little Lime. So far all is well & with judicious pruning it is the perfect size for my smaller planting area.

I am in the PNW Z8/9 also. Our temperate climate, rain & longer growing season often makes plants exceed growth descriptions on the plant tags.

Same here. I now have Little Lime and while it may not yet have topped out, it just doesn’t look like it’ll get over 5’.
Whereas I was shocked at Limelight’s growth. I loved the blooms but planted 2 where I never expected such large shrubs. I basically had to later have help hauling them out. In addition to being too tall, they also had massive amounts of stems for pruning, even if just did a % each year.

I have several mature Little Limes and all are around 4 ft tall and wide, in full sun. They’re nice shrubs. Just know that the blooms are not white like those of Limelight, but are more of a creamy color before they age to pinkish green. Also, the blooms are smaller, but more plentiful.

My Little Lime also seems to be keeping within bounds in Texas but I wonder if it will continue, say, in 15-20 years as I never prune it.

Thanks, everyone! I'll give little lime a shot. Hopefully in 6b I can get a solid 5 feet out of it. Those massive 10+ foot limelights are gorgeous, but sounds like too much for this spot.

I have a couple of little limes and can also confirm that they stay at 5' with little intervention, perhaps 6' with the flower heads.

-Chris

Thank you, @Sandy Anderson! I am about an hour outside of Philly, too, in Phoenixville. Where are you?

since I've read that they can sometimes outgrow their expected heights (3-5 for little lime and 6-8 for limelight).

==>>>

height estimates are for about 10 years.. and presume after such time;. they will keep on growing.. trees more than shrubs though ...

i would presume all shrubs will easily double size estimates.. given a decade or so..

and that is why ALL shrubs are pruned.. or sheared ... its not really a big deal ...

one thing that does slow down size.. is ground freeze ... but in your philly.. nothing will stop it from growing year around ...

pick the smaller.. if you wan to delay pruning longer ...

ken

" and that is why ALL shrubs are pruned.. or sheared . "

And yet another of ken's bizarrely unsupported statements! As is the one about growth being doubled in a decade. And also about plants growling all year round in Philadelphia.

• Many shrubs can grow happily their entire life span without needing to be pruned. It will depend on the specific shrub, the location and its current growing conditions.
• Shrubs are not trees and will not keep on growing at their developmental rate indefinitely. There is a maximum size programmed into their genetics and once they approach that, growth slows to an almost infinitesimal annual amount.
• Any climate that is not frost free - so any zone lower than 10 - plants will go through a normal period of dormancy where growth slows or halts completely until daylength, temperatures and its internal biological cycle prompts it out of dormancy and into new growth. Growth is NOT year round, certainly not in a zone 6b!!

Very broadly based blanket generalities like these are inaccurate and unhelpful. Best to be avoided and speak only to the plant in question and the location it's being grown. One size most certainly does not fit all!!!

Hey Phoenixville, I’m in Chester Springs.

You might want to check out the newer ”Limelight Prime”; it’s supposed to top out at 4-6ft, so shorter than regular Limelight. Here is the Proven Winners description:

https://www.provenwinners.com/plants/hydrangea/limelight-prime-panicle-hydrangea-hydrangea-paniculata

@Sandy Anderson small world! thanks for your help.