mehearty, I am sorry to hear that you're not a fan of your Quick Fire! I love the early white blooms... but then you are right that the panty hose color blooms do look a little unattractive during late summer! LOL!

For that spot, I would choose Limelight over Annabelle, because it is more erect and the blooms last longer. They are also less floppy.

However, just like another response that I posted, do you want a hydrangea in the front yard as a focal point? It is not the most attractive thing during winter. That said, I found that the branching pattern of an unpruned Limelight to be much more attractive than Annabelle. Maybe you can do a mixture of Limelight plus some evergreens there to provide the winter interest.

I agree with ostrich, I love my Limelight, though I would love to own an Annabelle as well. Here's a picture of the soft pink/green it turned in October after our first frost.

Hi mehearty, I have a limelight and I love it, it is tough as nails and blooms its' head off, but it doesn't bloom until July for me. does anyone else have a comment about this?

Thank you folks! I decided on Annabelle and went out early this am to find her. As gardener's luck woud have it, I found a nice sized ES on sale, so I snatched it up. I guess my mind got made up for me. lol

Ostrich, we tend to get buried in snow in the winter, so there's no winter interest lol. I plant tulips in front of my shorter hydrangeas in the front to camoflauge the hydrangea sticks in spring.

As for Limelight, I'll get one someday. It sounds so lovely. Edufrin, that pic is gorgeous!

Thanks everyone!

off topic, but since I see a complain about QF blooming too early and turning 'panty hose' color, I should say that in a right place those qualities could become very helpfull.
For example, I have one of my QF planted in a such way that it provides background to ES and they have bloom peak at the same time. Great combo of white+blue! Later on fading QF bloom become offsetted by still blue ES and then when QF become nicely red it helps to mitigate bluh fall color of ES.
Hey, after all beauty is in the eye of beholder, right? :-))

I agree that in the right setting with the right colors, the pantyhose color has its place. In this bed, I much prefer the vibrant white because of all the plants around it. A few weeks after this pic was taken, the rose of sharon tree form bloomed double red (pink, really), and it really washes out QF. But I do love QF's lacecap looking blooms. I'll give it that. =)

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