As the Weigela is a spectacular flowering shrub that now has some newer hybrids that are hardy to Zone 3, it is a shrub that should be featured in your landscape.
In late spring to early summer, the Weigela, has arching stems that become loaded with bell-shape flowers ranging in colours from pale to dark pink, or red and becomes a focal point in any the garden.
New varieties also not only include colourful flowers, but some have flashy foliage in shades of gold, green, white, and rose for a season-long spectacle. Sizes can range from vigorous two metre shrubs to very compact dwarf varieties around fifty to eighty centimetres which are well suited to mingling with perennials.
A tough and hardy shrub the Weigela is low maintenance, once established. Weigela will tolerate a site with partial shade, but the flowering will not be as abundant, so for the most prolific blooms, plant in a site with full sun. Weigela likes a fertile and moist but well-drained soil that receives adequate water throughout the season. They will tolerate drier soils if you provide supplemental watering, each season To ensure a deep root system, make sure to water weekly (or up to three times a week if the season is really dry) in its first year of growth.
Because this shrub is a vigorous bloomer, you want to ensure that you fertilize it at least twice a year to promote blooming. Bone meal added to the soil around the base of the shrub in the spring just after the leaves emerge and in late summer/early fall to give the roots a boost before going dormant for the winter is all that is required. If you don’t have bone meal, use a good quality fertilizer for flowering plants with a rating of 15-30-15. Keep an eye out at your favourite nursery for a Weigela. If you hurry you may catch it still in bloom so you can see its show of flowers. If you need one more reason to add this shrub to your garden, think about how its showy tubular flowers readily attract hummingbirds and pollinating insects.
So if you are driving around the city in the early spring and are wondering what that shrub is that is bursting with pink blooms, stop and take a closer look as it is probably a Weigela species.
