The Gardener's Corner
Adding poetic beauty with a weigela
By Judith Rogers

Weigela is a desirable shrub for gardens as it can be found in various shapes and colours. Named after the German botanist Christian von Weigel, weigela florida is a 1.8 to 2.7 metre tall shrub with arching branches of dark pink tubular flowers in late spring and early summer that can spread up to 3.5 metres wide.

Weigelas prefer a location in full sun with a rich, well drained soil but will tolerate partial shade. Flowering occurs in June with random blooms again in August and varieties that have deep red flowers are very attractive to hummingbirds. Through breeding, there are now compact forms of weigela, some that flower longer and others that are more cold hardy.

Red Prince grows upright with arching branches, reaching 200 centimetres at maturity, and is one of the favourite nectar sources for the hummingbirds in my garden.

Also upright and with white flowers, White Knight is a little shorter at 150 cm. Pink Princess attains this same height but has pink flowers and glossy green leaves edged with purple.

Who can resist the romantic notion that Wine and Roses depicts with its spectacular dark burgundypurple foliage and rosy-pink flowers. Both the Variegated weigela that grows in a rounded, compact form with green foliage edged in yellow and Wine and Roses grow to 125 cm tall.

Even homeowners with a small yard can enjoy a marvelous dwarf weigela such as Midnight Wine, a sweet little 25 to 30 cm high shrub that forms a low mound of dark burgundy-purple foliage with light pink flowers. It is striking as a groundcover, in containers as well as window boxes and perfect for the front of a border.

A new introduction from 2006, My Monet has a tight growing habit with colourful foliage of green and white with pink tinges on the edges. Dark pink flowers complete the poetic beauty this 30 to 45 cm tall shrub will create in any garden as well as add a splash of colour to a partial shady area.

After the shrubs have finished blooming, the flowering branches can be pruned back to a strong bud, and one third of the old growth can be cut back to the ground at this time too, to allow for new vigorous growth from the base.

Generally a problem-free shrub, occasionally scale insects, verticillium wilt or twig dieback will be experienced but overall, weigelas are a good hardy shrub to have.