Weigela: Incoporating this Hardy Flowering Shrub into Your Flower Beds

From eastern Asia into our Midwestern landscapes, weigela add significant late spring color to my flower beds. Weigela is a deciduous, upright shrub that flowers profusely in many different colors. The picture on the left is of Weigela florida variegata. I have four of these beauties. The flowers are bourne along the entire branch and once it is done flowering, the cream and green colored foliage stands on its own. This shrub does extremely well with our ever changing weather conditions. The foliage always looks great and there's very little, if any, winter damage incurred. I have yet to have one fail to bloom. In fact, it's just the opposite. I am always amazed at how these shrubs bulk up with blooms. Weigela comes in many colors including pink, red, white, and yellow and are hardy up to zone 4.



Weigela are extremely attractive to hummingbirds and bumble bees. As soon as the weigela in my gardens start to bloom, I am surrounded by the constant hum of the bumbles. These hardy shrubs do well in full sun and will tolerate some shade.

(pictured at left: weigela florida dwarf minuet)


Some varieties will flower twice, once in the spring and then again in late summer although I don't think the late summer flowering is as profuse as in the late spring. Weigela florida Pink Princess and Weigela florida Red Prince, pictured below, are two such types.











I have all four of the varieties mentioned in my garden but there are over 12 species of weigela to choose from. Most can be easily found at your local nursery or big box stores. I think weigela is worth investigating if you are looking for shrubs to fill out large flower beds. They will not disappoint.

Robinson Crabapple: What's Blooming Now 4-16-09

Looking back through my hardcopy garden journal, I was surprised to find that we'd planted this Robinson crabapple tree in 2006. It sure didn't seem like that long ago. (Time flies when you're having fun---or getting old ! which is more my case.) Anyway, looking through the journal jogged my memory about this poor tree's history. Dave bought it on a 75% off sale at Lowe's. It was half dead when he brought it home and someone had cruelly carved the branches out of the center. We planted it in August in the midst of a drought and babied it to keep it going. In 2007, it budded and was just beginning to leaf when a late spring freeze nipped it back. Needless to say, no flowers and what branches grew were spindly. The spring of 2008 was kinder to the poor tree, no freeze but regardless, it refused to flower. The branches thickened a bit but it still looked scrabbly. After it went dormant this past fall, I gave it a good pruning. We had all but decided to move it if it didn't bloom this year. . .

Barring a killing frost to nip the flower buds, a flowering tree that refuses to flower can be coaxed. In the fall before it goes dormant, hit it with a dose of phosphate and then again around the end of February before it gets the chance to bud. I used ferti-lome Blooming & Rooting Soluble Plant Food. It's ratio is nitrogen (N) 9%, phosphate (P) 59%, and potash (K) 8%. Another method is to purchase phosphate by itself and work the powder into the dirt around the tree. High Yield makes a phosphate for just that purpose and it is also good for working into the dirt around gross feeders such as dahlias or peonies.

Cameo Flowering Quince: Chaenomeles speciosa

Praise God from whom all blessings flow . . .

I cannot keep those words out of my head this afternoon. That old hymn, which I've heard and sang countless times over the years, kept coming back to me over and over as Lu and I surveyed the lack of damage from the hard freeze we endured last night. I can only say that the bare minimum of destruction was the Lord hearing my prayer and blessing me with His kindness. I had left my perennials, shrubs, and trees in His hands, not covering anything.

Usually, you could find me in a frantic race with my blankets and quilt batting and bags of mulch, trying to wrap up everything. But, when I heard that our night temps were to be in the low 20's, I knew not I alone could win that battle. That's when I turned over the grief of losing my gardens to a killing frost and gave my trepidations to the Lord.

Around one 0'clock this afternoon, I leashed Lu and we went for a walk around the property, inspecting garden beds. To my amazement, there's been very little damage. Even my most tender perennials seem to have come through with flying colors. On our walk, I discovered my Cameo Flowering Quince in bloom. Oh is it lovely! Its gorgeous, double apricot blooms against its kelly green foliage just takes my breath away.

I remember buying it from a discount table. The poor thing was barely a foot tall with four or five meager branches, just clinging to life. Of course I had to save it. What a beauty its turned out to be this spring. The botanical name of this prize is chaenomeles speciosa and it is grown for its abundant early spring flowers. Right along side forsythia, its one of the first spring shrubs to bloom and then bears green/yellow fruits. The fruits are fairly tasteless but have a high amount of pectin and when combined with blueberries, raspberries, grapes, or blackberries which are low in pectin, can actually allow one to make jelly without adding extra pectin.

Most flowering quince are hardy to zone 5. They are a great choice for growing a dense hedge. The fruits are often used as a pomander for closets because of their exceptionally strong fragrance. Plant in a sunny location in rich soil. Quince do well with a yearly spring feeding of rotted compost and bonemeal.

Further to the back of our property, Lu and I happened upon Dave's Keiffer semi-dwarf pear in bloom. He planted the Keiffer last fall along with a Summercrisp. The sad news is, Dave did this because fire blight infected our elderly pear tree. This pear tree was on the property when we bought it but I would estimate it to be close to 100 years old. At some point in the past, either lightening or disease caused this tree to die out and offshoots grew in the place of the original tree. But, having said that, it was still a magnificent specimen. We will be so sorry to lose it as half of the tree died with the fire blight. Unfortunately, I don't think this tree made it through the winter. There aren't any leaves and its bark is very black.

However, on a happier note, a sapling from the old tree grew up in our blackberry patch and it has leaves and flowers, a strong fellow! Thank you God for all your blessings!