Firelight Tidbit® Hydrangea

Once upon a time the panicle hydrangea was a very large, tree-like shrub seen in most older gardens, parks and even cemeteries. Plants could be seen all across large parts of the country. Unlike the popular pink and blue hydrangeas, these shrubs were very winter hardy, and so very popular in colder states. Trouble was, they were monsters, boring or ugly for most of the year, and then attractive for a week or two until the first thunderstorm smashed all the stems, leaving them sadly hanging down.

Luckily, all that has changed. Breeders have today given us a whole range of these plants. They take storms in their stride, never collapsing, and their flowers run the whole spectrum from pale green to white to pink and to deep reds, over a blooming period of months.

Not only stronger, more colorful, and just as hardy, these plants now come in a whole range of sizes, so no matter the size of your garden, or the space you have available, you too can now enjoy these great summer and fall flowers, without living with the elephant in the room that was the old-fashioned PG hydrangea.

Of all the choices availabe, perhaps the most useful is the Fire Light Titbit® Hydrangea. A compact bush no more than 3 feet tall and wide, it fits in anywhere, yet it gives you all the value of a shrub 3 times its size. Smothered with well-sized and proportioned conical blooms from mid-summer on, these give you the classic progression from green in bud to weeks of pure white, then followed by developing pink tones finally turning dark reds in fall. One of the simplest ways available to give your garden a terrific boost in the later months of the season, without relying on annual flowers, or annual work.

Growing the Fire Light Titbit® Hydrangea

Size and Appearance

The Fire Light Titbit® Hydrangea is a dwarf deciduous shrub with many slender branches, forming a rounded bush typically 2 to 3 feet tall and wide. It is one of the very smallest of all the different varieties of panicle hydrangea, the species notable for its longer, slightly pointed flower heads. These are different from the flat, rounded ‘mop heads’ seen in the typical blue or pink hydrangeas. The branches are slender, with a pale brown bark and buds carried in pairs. The leaves are small, just a little more than 2 inches long, elliptical in shape, light, bright, yellow-green in coloring, with finely-serrated edges and a generally smooth surface. Leaves appear relatively early in the season, and there is considerable leafy growth before you begin to see flowers. In fall the leaves turn clear yellow late in the season, and drop to the ground.

It is typically July when the first flowers appear, continuing in their white form throughout August, and then gradually coloring through September and October, depending on how long your fall weather remains not to cold.

The first sign of flowering you will see are tiny greenish white buds at the tips of every branch, nestling among the leaves. These quickly expanded into a rounded to slightly pointed cluster of many flowers 6 inches tall and 6 inches round. Since almost every branch carries a flower cluster, many will be seen on your bush. Each flower head consists of up to 500 small individual flowers, typically flat with 4 to 6 rounded petals held horizontally. Flowers open a wonderful, cooling pure white – perfect to lower the temperature in your garden. As the weather begins to cool, so the flowers begin to turn light pink at first, gradually darkening to become rich tones of red-purple during the coldest days of fall. Eventually they brown, but even then they are attractive and can be left for a long time as winter decoration. The flowers are unscented, but do attract many insects collecting pollen.

Using the Fire Light Titbit® Hydrangea in Your Garden

Because of its compact form, the Fire Light Titbit® Hydrangea is a winner in small gardens, for mass planting in a larger context, and also for growing in pots and planter boxes. It is also fantastic for edging a path – space plants 18 inches apart for a continuous hedge-like effect. Container-grown plants can be left outdoors all winter from zone 5.

Hardiness

Like all the panicle hydrangeas, the Fire Light Titbit® Hydrangea is incredibly cold-resistant, thriving in zone 3, but also growing in much hotter climates, right into zone 8. If you live in a place too cold for mophead hydrangeas, plants like these are the answer to your prayer.

Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions

It is common-place to think of the hydrangea as a shade-loving plant, but not the panicle hydrangea. Especially in the colder zones, plant it in full sun for the best results, although it will tolerate a few hours of shade. In warmer zones protection from the afternoon sun is helpful, eliminating the leaf burn and flower scorch that can result from full-sun exposure all day in very hot and dry climates.

As for soil, this is a very easy-going plant, thriving happily in all kinds of soils, except those that are always wet and boggy. Note that the coloring of this plant is not affected by soil pH, well-known to cause color changes in the mop-head species. Whatever your soil type, you are guaranteed white blooms that will turn pink to red.

Pruning and Maintenance

Deer do unfortunately have an appetite or all hydrangeas, but outside that limitation pests or diseases are extremely rare.

Annual pruning is the only activity needed, although we do recommend that you trim off the dead flower heads at the end of fall, as the weight of snow accumulating on them can cause serious branch breakage.

Prune in spring, just as the buds are beginning to color – this makes seeing what needs pruning infinitely easier. First, remove all branches that are dead. Secondly, decide if you want many blooms, or fewer but larger ones. For many smaller blooms, simply trim a couple of inches of the growth from the previous year (notice its paler color), cutting just above a healthy pair of buds. For fewer, but much larger heads, cut the previous year’s growth hard, leaving just two pairs of buds. For an intermediate look, cut last year’s branch approximately in half. Notice that the harder you prune, the later the flowers will appear, so you can control flowering time to a degree by your pruning choices.

Nothing else is needed, and be very careful NOT to trim new growth once it begins, or you will see few or no flowers. Soil fertility, watering, weather conditions and pruning all affect the quantity and quality of flowering.

History and Origins of the Fire Light Titbit® Hydrangea

Originally found in China and Japan, Hydrangea paniculata in its wild form is a small tree with tiny, fuzzy flowers in clusters. In the 1870s a form with large flowers was introduced into America – the classic PG Hydrangea. Since then, this large shrub has been scaled-down by breeders to suit modern, smaller gardens. It is easily recognized by its smaller leaves of lighter green and flower heads that are pointed to slightly conical, rather than flat and rounded.

The hydrangea officially called ‘SMNHPK‘ was selected in 2015 by Tim Wood, head breeder at Spring Meadow Nursery in Grand Haven, Michigan. A couple of years earlier he had collected seeds from a small H. paniculata variety with greenish flowers called ‘Bicolor Pink’. This exciting new variety has been released under the Proven Winners® brand with the trademarked name of Fire Light Titbit®.

Buying the Fire Light Titbit® Hydrangea at The Tree Center

Finally, a panicle hydrangea that won’t take over your small garden! What a breakthrough, and what a rewarding and amazing plant the Fire Light Titbit® Hydrangea is. For urban gardens it can’t be beat, and brighten your town-house courtyard with one in a pot – wow! But we suggest you order now – these plants are leaving so fast it’s like a fire-sale.