Please post your "year to year observations, thru pictorial documentations" so we're sure what you're asking. Thanks! :)

If you want more showy sterile flowers you will need to get one of those paniculatas that have that feature like 'Limelite', 'Little Lamb' and maybe Floribunda.
What I have noticed with the ones that have nice showy head is that after a rain those nice heads are usually on the ground for several days.

Hi Prairiegirl - Sorry for not responding sooner and thanks for taking the time ... I know that my ??? are somewhat confusing. The reason I started wondering about factors, that may control the 2 florets, on a Paniculata inflorecence, is an observation in this particular season ... My Kyushu tree as full of blossoms as she has, seems creamier (almost has a hue of lime) in her full flashing, mature stage, than the past seasons.

One of my Tardivas seem to have more petalled florets than the other ... I'm certainly aware that within the same bush, there are smaller w/ less petaled, as well as larger & fuller panicles. My 2 Tardivas are almost identical in size 7.5'tall x 8.5'wide & 8.5'tall x 9'wide, both full of blossoms (in very similar f/s exposure sites).

Sorry that I can only post 2 years, as prior to acquring my digit. cam in '07 all garden photos were from conventional cam, in prints - '07 pics not as good in details, as I didn't trust my skills with dig. cam in the beginning. I've been keeping garden journals since the '80s but started collecting Hs only since '05 (2 Tardivas were first). All I have to go by, is my pictorial journal for comparison. I have an album of Paniculata blossoms in this Iphoto file, but haven't yet prep'd for posting.

Hi Goswimmin - I do have Lil Lamb, Limelight & Annabelle as well as ES, F&E &BB - but I favor the lacey look, of the Paniculatas & Lacecaps ... I'm simply curious, about the proportion of Fertile & infertile florets, on a panicle & what conditions & factors may control them.

Thanks again for taking time on my curiosiies! Â;)

If I understand your question correctly, the proportion of sterile versus fertile florets will depend on the particular cultivar of H. paniculata as well as the age of the flower. Some cultivars are comprised of mostly sterile florets (like 'PeeGee'), giving a denser, fuller appearance to the inflorescence while others have a more even proportion of the two flower types, providing a lacier, airier appearance (like 'Tardiva'). And the sterile flowers tend to develop more with time - older inflorescence's will show more sterile flowers.

Thank you gardengal148 - You got my ??? & answered my curiosities ... however my Kyushu seems to have developed more tiny, fertile florets, that fuzz up as they mature ... dust around & form, what look like tiny seeds ... make the inflorescences quite heavy! Could the reason, Kyushu tree's full head of huge blossoms, looks creamier, this past 2 years, is that she has never been pruned nor shaped, except for clipping spent blossoms in Spring (whatever's left by Winter storms)?

This is her 4th season in the soil, will it help, do you think, to prune in Spring, & hope for smaller inflorescences ... then will be able to handle the seasonal assaults of nature? She broke 2 huge limbs as a storm whipped her head into a tangle ... the weight of her huge & heavy (total of 16+) panicles, might have made it easier to break. She was able to handle worst assaults in the past.

Again, thank you for taking the time!!! Â;)

gardengal certainly seems more expert than I am, but I'll venture a guess that pruning will help support the bigger florets, if pruning to thicker stems. BUT I'm not sure myself yet if hydrangeas, like smokebushes for ex., flower less on pruned wood. I know QF, LL, PW bloom on both new and old wood, but have not observed long enough to know which wood produces which flowers, if that makes sense. My sense is that, this is the difference, bigger flowers on older wood mean less sterile, showy infloresences as shrub matures.

Thank you prairiegirlz5 - Does make sense to me!

Having only a small pruning, experience - w/ L'l L, after breaking 4 of 7 taller & thicker, center canes last Fall, I went ahead & pruned a bit more, to shape. I feared that those canes will end up with horn-like stems, based on growing habit of, opposite leaf arrangement ... to my delight, 3 of the 4 grew 3 stems that produced, smaller blossoms ... the 4th, just 1 & a small attempt that didn't fan out (no bloom either) as if a continuation of previous yr's & grew a larger panicle as well (12"lgx10"w). The others unpruned produced huge panicles as well ... I really prefer the 7-8" ones!

I'm not sure if I'm clear, in my description. In any case, I'll prune & shape, both Kyushu & Li'l L, come Spring ... see if our thinking is right & hopefully produce smaller & showier inflorescences on Kyushu & *simply* smaller on Li'l L!

Again, many thanks!
BTW 'love to see photo, of your 'Smokebush' in bloom ... do you post in the shrub forum?

ditas~I don't have pics, and I don't know how to post them like you do, so they end up within the body of your text (hanging head in shame). Help!!

BTW I've been told that the smokebush really looks better if you don't allow it to "smoke", pruning it within 2 feet of the ground to make the leaves bigger, as the new growth is darker purple and showier. So my plan is to do that next spring. I only had a small one, and after two years of moving it around the yard (I know, ???) it's only about 3 feet tall now. But I'll be happy to post a pic over there later, going out for the day soon! :)