Thank you Luis for your help. Great, I will just leave it alone. That was easy!!

I bought one today and was planning on putting it in a bed that only gets a couple hours of morning sun ... next to an Endless Summer. I've read in other threads on GW where people plant it in full sun. The sign at the nursery said shade.

Luis, you seem to be a bit of an expert on hydrangeas. Where would you plant it in my south Louisiana garden?

TIA!

According to the LSU Ag Center it needs sun, so that's what it'll get.

I have yet to plant any hydrangea variety in full sun here. Macrophyllas, Oakleaves and Arborescens fry their leaves here in the South during the mid-summer months. I suggest that they get morning sun and then some shade starting around 11am or 12pm (approx) during the summer months. With the exceptional drought that we still have, the leaves can survide with afternoon shade when the temps are in the 80s or lower but start to brown out when the temps get higher.

Note that it is ok to plant it in full sun when you live somewhere in the northern half of the country. Even better if located further North. The summer sun is not as strong as it is down here.

Luis

That's what I thought too, but this from the LSU Ag site:

Locate hydrangeas in a spot where they receive some shade during the day. A shady (two hours of direct sun) or partly shaded (about four hours of direct sun) bed is ideal. Avoid hot, sunny, dry areas or beds that are baked by the afternoon sun. Morning sun is much preferred by these plants, so an eastern exposure is excellent. The exceptions are H. paniculata prefers a sunny garden and H. arborescens prefers light shade.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hydrangeas for shade and sun

Let me/us know how the leaves do by the time August 2012 arrives (if you just happen to remember). I am most interested as the sun in July-August has scorched the leaves of the Macs, Oakleaf, Arborescens here (the leaves in direct contact with the sun turn all yellow or whiteish, including the leaf veins).

I have not tried planting a paniculata here for that reason. Oddly, I have not even seen one in homes or city gardens, although Little Lime was for sale in a nursery in May. When I returned to buy it, it was sold out. LL is the only paniculata I have ever seen sold locally in 30 years. It was shocking to find it! Sure would be nice to add some panics.... compact ones though! Hee hee hee!

Luis, I'll try to remember. I bookmarked this forum, so that should help. I'd never heard of Limelight or Little Lime until this year on the Cottage Gardening forum. When I saw it at the nursery I decided to give it a shot.

Luis, I thought about this thread as I posted on another here. I decided not to wait till August. Dug it up on Tuesday and transplanted it into a bed where it only receives morning sun. Mother Nature has been very generous with rainfall since then.

Well, I think I should have left well enough alone. The one in the courtyard that gets about 5 hours of morning sun has been blooming for a month. The one I moved from an afternoon sun location to morning sun and a bit of afternoon sun isn't blooming at all. This fall I'll relocate it again.

I’m in zone 7. I planted little limes in full afternoon suN. By August all leaves were covered in black spots and looked dried, but still some green. they weren’t all that healthy when I purchased them in June. I’m thinking of hard pruning to try again next year while being much more mindful of watering them daily. Thoughts/advice, Luis?

Do you have pictures? The leaf spots may be cercospora leaf spots due to overhead watering at the place where you bought them. In that case, watering the soil, not the leaves will greatly help control the problem and pruning will not be needed.

http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-1212/ANR-1212.pdf