Golden Chain Tree (Laburnum x watereri 'Vossi') and Purple Sensation allium at VanDusen Botanical Gardens. Photo Amanda Jarrett

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The Garden Website for May

Darts Hill - A Garden Park - Need Help? - Job Postings - Learn How to Prune
May Introduction - May Plant Combo - Amanda's Garden Blog -  May Garden Chores 
May Garden Stars - Plant Police - Water Restrictions - 
 Lawn Care - Stake & Pinch - Spring Bulb Care - Sowing Seeds Outdoors - What to do With Indoor Seedlings
Improving Garden Beds - Mulch Is a Good Thing 
May Arrangement - For the Tropical Gardener - Plant of the Month: Weigela

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Perry's White Oriental Poppy, Papaver orientale 'Perry's White'

Please note that any text that is coloured is linked to another page on this website or another website. Most of the pictures are also linked and will redirect you if you click on them. 

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Ask Amanda

Question: Do I need to change the potting soil in my planters annually? I have large planters for my hydrangeas and roses (21"-28" deep and wide).
Karen

If you want to keep a plant in the same pot, a little bit of root pruning is a great option.

Answer: Great question Karen. No you don't have to, especially if they are not pot-bound. Although you don't have to change the soil every year, it's a good idea to top it up with some fresh compost, SeaSoil or composted manure. Before you do so, remove the top few inches of soil if possible, then add a couple of inches of compost etc and some slow release fertilizer. Water thoroughly. You'll know when to change their soil and when to repot them into a bigger pot when they become pale and sickly. This is usually because they are potbound, meaning the pot is full of roots and little soil. Daily watering and lack of vigor are obvious symptoms. To fix, repot into a bigger pot, but not too big, just a couple of sizes larger. Loosen up the roots before planting with your hand, or use a knife if they are tightly bound. Just make a few slits in the roots every couple of inches. 

If you want to keep the plants in the existing container, cut a third of the roots off the bottom and sides with a sharp knife. Don't worry, the roots will grow back quickly. Water plants and soil thoroughly after transplanting and keep in a shady location until the plants pick up, which should take a few days to a week. For more information on growing in containers, go to Container Growing. 

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Question: We have a really bad issue with a bush we think is a Japanese rose. If we were to take a photo of the issue do you think you might be able to advise us what we need to do? It is decimating the whole bush. We have cut back all the dead stuff - over two thirds of the bush! Any ideas would be helpful.
Beckie

​Answer: It looks like your Japaneses rose, also known as a Kerria, has twig blight,Blumeriella kerriae. Luckily it only affects kerrias and will not infest other plants, but there is no magic cure. This fungal infection appears on the leaves as tiny red dots with purple borders. The spots coalesce as the leaves turn yellow and drop off. Purple-brown, sunken lesions appear on the stems, which eventually results in the stems dying above the infection. Remove all infected plant parts including any leaves that fall to the ground. This is especially important to do in fall as the spores overwinter. Wet weather, soggy soil, contaminated tools and touching infected plants contribute to the disease. Disinfect your pruning tools after pruning any infected plant, preferably after each cut.

I’m sorry there is not much you can do other than cut back the plant, remove all of its debris than spray with a fungicide such as sulfur or copper. Another alternative is to spray with a dormant oil and lime sulfur combination in winter. Alternately, just toss the plant, but don’t put a new one in its place as it will also fall prey to the twig blight. Improve conditions if possible, such as increasing air flow by pruning any branches from adjacent shrubs. If the area is too wet, add organic matter to the soil such as compost. A three inch layer of organic mulch on top of the soil also reduces the spread of spores splashing up on the plant when it rains.

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My pink tree peony's (Paeonia suffruticosa), huge blossoms. Wish they lasted longer.

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Need Help?

Need help figuring what to do in your garden? Make an appointment for Amanda to come to your garden to show you how to grow food, sow seeds, prune, design beds etc.  Need help trying to figure out how to get the garden ready for spring? Get Amanda to teach you the ropes by making an appointment here. 

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Learn How to Prune

What to prune now? How to prune? What tools to use? How far can a plant be cut back? All are great questions. 
 Register here  for Amanda to teach you all about pruning your plants in your garden at your convenience.

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A white bleeding heart, Lamprocapnos spectabilis 'Alba'.

Job Postings 

​For landscapers looking for work and landscape companies looking to hire.
If you are looking for work or if you wish to post a position please go to Job Postings.​

Paraspace is Hiring Landscapers!
Full-time, permanent, year-round landscaping positions available in Burnaby and Vancouver. Wages range from $18.00-$20.50 hourly, benefits, paid vacation, perks, POP provided, health & dental. Read more... 

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May Intro

Sarah Bernhardt peony with Japanese spirea and Lady's mantle flowers.

The promise of sunny days and warmer temperatures is what May is all about. And we are all waiting - very patiently - after such a cold and wet spring.
Our chilly Vancouver weather was a boon to daffodils and other early bloomers as it prolonged their flowering season, however, they did seem to catch up a bit though after a few hot days at the end of April. I wonder what this May will bring. 

Did any of your plants not make it through the winter? Surprisingly despite our chilly spring, it seems only my wallflowers and a variegated sage suffered. They were duped into thinking that spring had sprung in March only to be felled by frost shortly thereafter. They looked terrible for some time, but they have rallied forth and are sporting new growth. If a plant has not sprouted new growth by now, it's probably a gonner. Leave it in the ground anyway as those dead roots provide organic matter and nutrients to the soil. It’s good stuff.
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No matter where you live in Canada, May is planting month. It's a busy time. Nurseries are hectic, staff are so busy there is often no help to be found as plants fly off the shelves. Read those plant labels to help with your selection. Note the their required growing conditions, their width and height.
​Try to resist impulse buying those gorgeous plants that beg you to take them home,
​(I’ve had shoes that did the same thing!).
I tend to succumb, so don’t listen to me.
Cheers,
Amanda

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A double pink hybrid columbine, Aquilegia x hybrida, flowers this month.

Amanda's Garden Blog

Tulips and sunshine.

• New: Dart's Hill, A Garden Park
• VanDusen Botanical Gardens Visit
• Tall Kale Tales
• Northwest Flower & Garden Show, Seattle
• Pruning in Winter
• Pruning & Training Grape Vines in Winter
• Insects & Diseases Control with Dormant Spray
• Why Christmas cactus Don't Blossom
• A Quickie Festive Swag
• Putting the Garden to Bed
• How to Drain Soggy Soil
• A Visit to the Arizona - Sonora Desert
• Banana, Palm Tree Winter Protection
• Lasagna Gardening, Sheet Mulching
• Saving Geraniums, Coleus, Bougainvilleas & Other Tender Plants 
• Spiders Everywhere - Oh My!
• Tomato Troubles & Soil Solarization
• Trees That Drip That Sticky Stuff
• Balcony Bliss
• One Huge Beetle! 
• A Summer's Day Harvest
• The Dunbar Garden Club Private Tour
• Leaky Birdbaths and Slug Free Strawberries
• Easy Roses
• Oops... Wrong Plant, Wrong Place
• I Had An Ugly Lawn...

To subscribe to my blog click here. 

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A beech (Fagus sp.) seedling.

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May Garden Stars

The Montana clematis, C. montana, is a semi-vigorous, deciduous vine that prefers full sun.

Solomon's Seal, Polygonatum biflorum, is an elegant herbaceous perennial. It prefers a shade and moist soil.

Candy Stripe creeping phlox, Phlox subulata 'Candy Stripe', is a low growing evergreen herbaceous perennial that prefers full sun and arid conditions.

Snow Day Surprise pearlbush, Exochorda 'Snow Day Surprise', grows 4'x4', full sun, part shade. Deciduous shrub.

Pink flowering dogwood, Cornus florida 'Rubra', height & width 15 to 30ft. Full sun, part shade. Deciduous tree.

Kolkwitzia amabilis, beautybush, a deciduous shrub grows 6 to 10ft tall and wide. Full sun.

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May PLANT COMBO

A shady combination:Johnson Blue cranesbill geranium (Geranium 'Johnson Blue') in the foreground, Hosta x 'Blue Mouse Ears' in the middle and Solomon Seal (Polygonatum biflorum) on the left.

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Watering Restrictions start May 1

For Metro Vancouver, B.C.,
water restrictions start May 1 and end October 15.
Lawns: 
Two days a week and only in the morning. Exemptions are permitted for new lawns but you must get an exemption permit and have it prominently displayed and have handy your receipt for lawn seed or sod. Treatment for chafer beetles is also exempt. For more information click here. 
Even-numbered addresses:
Wednesday, Saturday mornings 4 am to 9 am  
Odd-numbered addresses:
Thursday, Sunday mornings 4 am to 9 am 
Trees, shrubs, flower beds:
permitted any day, but only in the morning from 4 to 9 if using a sprinkler. There are no restrictions for hand watering, soaker hoses or drip system, however, hand held hoses must have an automatic shut-off device.

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plant police

No matter how cool it looks, don't let English ivy, Hedera helix grow up trees.

English ivy eventually smothers plants it uses as a support so it must be removed. This tree certainly would appreciate it. It is difficult to pull it off but do your best. For those that cling on for dear life, just them off at the base of the tree. Vines stuck to the truck should eventually die as they are not parasitic and will not 'eat' the tree. 

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Lawn Care
MAKING IT 'PURTY'

Crows have dug up this lawn in search for Chafer bugs.

A healthy lawn that doesn’t get dug up by critters feasting on grubs is attainable. So are lawns that contains more grass plants than weeds.

Correct maintenance is essential to encourage healthy grass. Incorrect watering, mowing and fertilizing makes lawns vulnerable to insects, diseases, moss and weeds. It is not the grass’s fault.  If your grass is not looking good, consider changing your maintenance practices and you should see an improvement.

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Lawn Maintenance tips

Mow lawns frequently, but cut them high at 2.5 to 3 inches.

1. Don't cut grass too short: set mower at 2.5 to 3 inches. 
2. Mow frequently removing 1/3rd of the grass blades at each cut. 
3. Keep clippings on the lawn (as long as they don't clump) as they provides nitrogen as it decomposes. 
4. Water! 1 inch a week. 

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Fertilizing Lawns

Our cool season grasses love May. After growing roots during the first part of spring, they put their energy into growing leaves – and they do it with gay abandon. So they don’t run out of steam, feed lawns with a high nitrogen fertilizer (first number highest ex: 8-5-3). ​

Read those fertilizer labels and purchase those that have lots of goodies.

​There are many types of lawn fertilizers to choose from, so consider your options. Inexpensive lawn food is often fast acting with little or no trace elements or micronutrients, which are essential for healthy plants. These synthetic fertilizers are not held in the soil and are used quickly. The grass has a fast green-up, but it is only temporary.

Apply with care, according to the directions, as they easily burn the lawn if over-applied. They are harmful to soil inhabitants and deplete it of organic matter. I’m obviously not a fan.

Organic fertilizers are a better option as they are slow release, non-burning and benefit the soil. Trouble is they are rather expensive, and somewhat difficult to find. An alternative is a slow release fertilizer and there are many available to choose from. Before applying fertilizers, read and follow the instructions and water after applying.  

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Lawn repair

This is the last month to repair lawns before it gets too hot.

If your grass has some bare, weedy spots, this is the last good month to reseed before the success rate dwindles due the advent of summer. We grow cool season grasses here so you’ll have more success if the newly sown grass is established well before summer. Before sowing grass seed, add some compost or SeaSoil and high phosphorous fertilizer (middle number the highest) and mix it into the bare spots. Add the grass seed and keep moist until the seeds germinate, which may mean you have to water a couple of times per day depending on the weather. 

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Spring Bulb Care

Snap off seed heads of spring flowering bulbs at petal fall.

Once daffodils, tulips and other spring bulbs have finished flowering, give them some nitrogen fertilizer such as fish fertilizer. This will provide them with food to encourage a healthy plant and more flowers next year. One of the problems with growing spring bulbs watching them turn yellow and brown after they finish flowering. Not a good look, but cutting off their leaves while they are still green is not a good idea, tempting as it may be. Removing their leaves diminishes their food storage and future flowering potential for next year.
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If you can't stand seeing the foliage yellow and wither in the garden, dig the bulbs up while green and plant them somewhere else so they can do what comes naturally, but out of sight. Or dig them up and hang them upside down in a dry location, like shed or garage. You can also hide their foliage by planting them behind or in between other plants so their foliage is not so noticeable.

Speaking of bulbs; once tulips, daffodils and other spring bulbs have finished flowering remove their spent flowers (deadheading) so the plants will not produce seeds as it is just a waste of their energy. It’s the flowers we want, not the seeds. If seed heads do form, just snap them off when you see them.  

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Improving Garden Beds

This mossy, compacted garden would benefit greatly from compost and a layer of organic mulch.

Garden beds, especially ones with clay soils, benefit from some added organic goodies and mulch preferably every year. If you haven't done it so far, try it out and see the difference for yourself. It won't take long to see the benefits. For those with heavy clay soils, like I have, mixing in some compost and other organic matter into the soil will convert the clay into a rich and wonderful clay loam. 

Add a couple of inches (or more) of well-rotted manure or compost to garden beds, especially around the perimeter of plants (dripline) as that is where there feeder roots are located. Mix it in a bit if you have the time and inclination.

If you already have mulched the garden beds, move it aside while you add the compost etc., then replace the mulch. Add more mulch overtop if needed as it should be 3 inches deep.

My clay soil was practically unworkable, but with adding compost and a mulch it is now a rich clay loam and the plants love it.

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Mulch is a Good Thing

If you haven't added a layer of organic mulch on top of the soil, you should really consider it. It would make your life easier as well as making your plants and soil quite delighted with you. A layer placed on top of the ground between and around plants improves soil fertility, reduces erosion and watering, prevents weeds and increases soil biodiversity; an essential part to a healthy garden.
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Chopped up recycled wood pallets, wood chips from the lumber industry and other chipped or shredded coarse woody material are ideal. Other options include leaves, straw (great for veggie beds) and coir (coconut husk) chunks. Just keep it a couple of inches away from woody tree trunks and don’t bury plants. Avoid mulch chipped from newly cut trees as the nitrogen become unavailable to the plants due to nitrogen immobilization. Also avoid cedar, redwood and pressure treated wood. Once it is all done, you will notice a difference in the health of your plants and soil. Your back maybe the only thing that will regret it. ​

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Living Mulches

Japanese spurge (Pachysandra terminalis), is a well-behaved evergreen groundcover for shade.

If mulch isn't your thing, consider a living groundcover. Low growing plants work in a similar way to mulch especially dense ones that are evergreen. Their roots hold onto the soil reducing erosion and insulating soil from temperature extremes. There are fewer weeds and they numerous kinds to suit specific locations and tastes. Be selective though as some can be quite aggressive. ​

Pretty? Yes, but ever so invasive! Snow on the Mountain, goutweed (Aegopodium podagraria) will grow anywhere, and doesn't stop spreading.

What to do with Seeds Grown Inside

Hardening off plants allows plants grown indoors to acclimatize to the outdoors.

​Seeds that have grown into transplants in the confines of your home or greenhouse should be ready to be planted outside once they have developed at least three sets of leaves and are of manageable size. To acclimatize them to the outdoors, they must be hardened off. This is a gradual process that introduces these tender babies into the variable outside conditions. Slowly increase their exposure to wind and sun by placing them outside an hour a day until they stay outside all day and night. This process takes from one to two weeks depending on how ardent you are taking them in and out.

May Garden Chores

Cocoa is cute, but rather bossy come planting time.

1. Plant: Finish planting everything this month after the risk of frost is over: bedding plants, veggies, dahlias, lilies, callas, cannas, gladiolus, herbs, trees & shrubs.
2. Post Planting: After planting, water well and pay attention to the plant’s needs, especially water. And don’t go on vacation after planting.
3. Potatoes: As potatoes plants grow, cover the new shoots with soil to protect potatoes from the sun so the don't turn green and to make more potatoes. 
4. Rhubarb: Pick rhubarb stems as they develop. Fertilize with a high nitrogen fertilizer. 
5. Strawberries: Remove runners so plants will dedicate their energy to produce strawberries. 
6. Harden off transplants by acclimatizing them slowly to the outdoors before planting them outside. 
7. Bug Barrier: Protect broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and leafy crops, right after they are planted with a floating row cover to protect them from cabbage butterfly, leaf miner, carrot rust fly and other insect pests.
8. Bugs: Hand pick if not squeamish. Go out at night for ones that hide in the day and feed at night. 
9. Bug Traps: Place pheromone traps in apple trees to decrease codling moth populations. Place traps loaded with slug bait to foil slugs and snails. 
10. Caterpillar infestation? Control with an organic option Bacillus thuringiensis. It only kills caterpillars.
11. Fertilize garden beds with compost, SeaSoil or an organic fertilizer or a slow release one.
12. Roses: Fertilize by giving them a few inches of compost and work it into the soil or use a slow release plant food.
13. Weeds: Pull weeds out by their roots; don’t let them go to seed or at least remove their flowers.
14. Lower Maintenance: To prevent weeds, reduce watering and fertilizer, lay down a 3 inch layer of an organic mulch on top of soil but between plants.
15. Inspect your garden every few days and don’t be upset if you see insects – put that insecticide down! You don’t want a bug free garden. A healthy garden has insects as good bugs eat the bad ones, plus many pollinate flowers so we can harvest fruit, nuts and veggies. Aphids? Just squish them as you hose them off. Fun time. 
16. Stake tall plants and ones with top heavy blooms as they grow: delphiniums, phlox, cone flowers (Echinacea sp.), peonies etc. A more gentle, but effective method, is to situate tall and leggy plants amid bushy plants to help keep them upright. 
17. Staking:To prevent eye injury, place tennis balls on the tips of all stakes. 
18. Vines: tie new shoots of clematis, wisteria, honeysuckle, climbing roses and other vines to help them find their way. 
19. Floppy plants: Tie together or cage Autumn Joy sedum, oriental poppies, phlox and tall asters as they tend to splay out as they grow. They take up extra space and often reveal an unsightly bare centre.
20. Topiary: regularly trim them throughout the season to keep them tidy. 
21. Pinching: Chrysanthemum, aster, Autumn Joy sedum, daisies and other leggy plants benefit from the tips of the stems being pinched off so they become dense and full. Start pinching stems back when they are one half of their natural growth. Cease your pinching by mid-June.
22. Deadhead: Remove spent flowers from tulips and other spring flowering bulbs as you don’t want them to use their energy in producing seeds. It’s better used to make more flowers for next year.
23. Spring bulb foliage: Don't remove the leaves when they are green as they provide the bulb with food for next year. Fertilize bulbs after flowering, with a high nitrogen fertilizer (first number highest).
24. Dead head (remove dead flowers) rhododendrons, lilacs, perennials and shrubs to prevent seed production and to tidy up plants. All you need is time & patience!
25. Groundcovers:  Deadhead aubretia and candytuft (Iberis sempervirens) etc., when they have finished flowering. Grab the plant by the ends where the dead flowers are, and cut about a third off. This promotes compact growth and some may flower again. 
26. Prune spring flowering plants right after they finish flowering – but only if they need it to keep them compact: forsythia and flowering quince (Chaenomeles)
27. Compost: Activate your compost if you haven’t already done so. First turn existing compost, add water if dry, add a green layer (veggie scraps etc.) then a brown layer (torn newspapers or dry leaves), then add more water.
28. Not composting yet? Learn how here.
29. Take softwood cuttings from forsythia, Mexican orange (Choisya ternata), beautybush (Kolkwitzia sp), lavender, hydrangea, mock orange (Philadelphus sp.), spireas, rosemary and thyme. Softwood cuttings are made from the new growth at the end of the stem.
30. Take herbaceous cuttings: geraniums (Pelargoniums), fuchsias, dahlias, impatiens, coleus
31. Sow Brussels sprouts seeds inside this month to transplant outside in August.
32. Sow seeds directly in the ground: peas, sunflowers, California poppies, beans, nasturtiums, carrots, lettuce and other annuals and veggies. Check the back of seed packets for suitable candidates.
33. Continuous harvests: Sow seeds in batches, not all at once, to prolong harvests. 
34. Containers: Plant up containers and hanging baskets as its fun and less expensive than store-bought. Keep them in a shady protected location for a few days before putting in sun and wind. 
35. Containers with existing plants: Remove an inch or two of soil from the top of the pot and replace with some compost or SeaSoil. Repot ones that are potbound and need a bigger pot. 
36. Greenhouses: Keep them ventilated during the day and close up by night if temps are chilly. Water thirsty crops and provide shading (netting, cloth etc.) on the south or west side if it gets too hot and sunny. 
37. Houseplants: Repot top-heavy, rootbound houseplants that need daily watering and ones that are in need. 
38. Lawns: Fertilize with a high nitrogen fertilizer, preferably slow release and/or organic.
39. Mow and mow some more. Mow the lawn often and keep the clippings on the lawn if they are not too long. Mowing more frequently and leaving the clippings makes mowing much easier and the clippings feed the lawn.
40. Bad Lawns: If your lawn is causing you more trouble than its worth, consider alternatives: a garden using sheet mulching, a patio, mulch or plant groundcovers instead. 
41. Birdfeeders: If you haven't already checked them before filling them, do so now. Rain easily turns seed into a mushy mess. Keep birdfeeders filled, including hummingbird feeders and don't forget to provide them with water if it fails to rain. 
42. Growing vegetables is easy with a few tips and tricks. To learn how to rotate crops, succession planting and companion planting click here.
43. Don’t be a stranger in your own garden. It likes to know your there and problems can be nipped in the bud, so to speak. It’s nice to relish the good stuff too; when things work out – woohoo!

Success! A 'pretty' tasty harvest.

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Stake & Pinch

To keep this Autumn Joy sedum compact, cut the tips off to make them bushy.

To keep asters, autumn joy sedum and chrysanthemums and other leggy plants more compact, give them a good pinch! Pinch off the tips off the stems (growing points, terminal tips) to encourage branching.  The flowers will be smaller, but there will be more of them and the plant will be more compact.

This Autumn Joy sedum was not 'pinched' and is loose, not dense and a hollow centre is developing as the branches splay outwards.

This Autumn Joy sedum was pinched back, just once in May. Note the denser, more compact growth. Flowers are smaller, but are more plentiful.

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​When plants grow so tall that they flop over. When blossoms are so heavy they droop under their own weight, it’s difficult to persuade them to stand upright again, especially with bent and broken stems.  If you do manage to upright them after the fact, they look totally weird as they are facing the wrong way and look rather tortured and take up twice their normal space. I know this because I am responsible for such heinous acts. I have been neglectful in my staking and all I’ve seen is the back-end of peony blossoms as their gorgeous flowers kiss the ground.
​
Stake delphiniums and other tall plants while they are young; tying them to their stake as they grow.Or for a more natural look, stick branches into the ground to help support them.
​
Place peony rings or tomato cages around Oriental poppies, autumn joy sedum, tall asters, peonies and other floppy plants. Another option is to grow them with other plants that will help support them, such as neighbouring shrubs. 

These peonies were staked, but they were just too short for this tall peony. Drats!

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Sow Seeds Outside

Now the ground and air has warmed up, consider sowing seeds directly in garden beds.

Since the danger of frost has past it’s safe to sow cold sensitive and fast growing seeds directly in the garden. Prepare the soil by weeding, add a few inches of compost, SeaSoil etc., and rake or dig it in slightly, then rake the soil smooth. Water the ground the day before sowing, especially if the ground is dry. Sow according to the packet directions and don't plant all those seeds in the seed packets at the same time.  Stagger the plantings every 10 days to two weeks to avoid a bushel of ripe beans or a cartload of radishes. 

If you are too afraid to directly sow seeds outdoors because of the threat of cutworms, snails, slugs and caterpillars start your seeds indoors. Just remember to harden them off before planting outside. 

• Vegetables: beans (bush, pole, soy), beets, broccoli, cabbage, cantaloupe, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chard, collards, corn, cucumbers, fennel, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, pac and bok choi, parsley, peas, potatoes, pumpkins, radishes, scallions, squashes, turnips, watermelons, zucchini
• Herbs: borage, cilantro, dill, fennel, lavender, oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme
• Flowers: calendula, cleome, cosmos, foxgloves, hollyhocks, marigolds, nasturtiums, poppies, sunflowers, sweet peas

Sunflower seeds do well when sown outdoors.

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May Arrangement

bergenia, bleeding heart, solomon's seal, English bluebells, tulips, Peppermint Stick tulips, Golden Parade tulip, Banja Luka tulips, bridal wreath spirea, pink flowering dogwood, Shirofugen Japanese flowering cherry, winter heather, perennial candytuft, basket of gold alyssum, Hino Crimson red azalea, Graf Zeppelin rhododendron, flowering currant, pasque flower, lungwort

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Plant of the month
Weigelas

Variegated weigela 'W. florida 'Variegata', Zones 3 to 8, grows 8ft max, but usually to 6ft.

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A single trumpet shaped flower of a Rubidor weigela entices hummingbirds and bees.

The Sonic Bloom Red weigela flowers are a deep lipstick red.

Rubidor weigela has deep pink flowers that contrasts nicely with the chartreuse foliage.

A deep pink flower of a Bristol Ruby weigela.

The chartreuse foliage of the Rubidor weigela turns colour in fall.

​Common Name: Weigela
Botanical Name: Weigela
Form:   dense, rounded with arching branches
Family: Caprifoliaceae
Genus:  Weigela
Species: many species and cultivars
Plant Type:  woody deciduous shrub
Mature Size: 6 to 10ft tall and 9 to 12ft wide
Growth: fast
Origin: North China, Korea and Japan
Hardiness Zone: 4 to 8
Foliage: simple, ovate-oblong, medium green leaves up to 4 inches long with serrated margins
Flowers: funnel shaped, 5 lobed, 1.25 inches long flowers April to June with some repeat blooms, pinks and reds, blooms profusely
Fruit: insignificant dry capsule
Exposure: full sun for best blooming, tolerates light and dappled shade
Soil: average, moist but well-drained soils best, soil tolerant including clay
Uses: attracts hummingbirds, bees, butterflies, border, foundation, medium screen, accent, informal hedge
Propagation:  softwood and semi-hardwood cuttings
Pruning: right after flowering as they bloom on year old wood
​Problems: wet soil, poorly drained soil promotes root rot
Cultivars:  W. florida ‘Rubidor’ (chartreuse foliage, pink flowers, 6ft x 8ft), W. florida ‘Variegata’ (green & cream foliage, pink flowers, 8ft x 8ft.), W. ‘Sonic Bloom Red’ (red blooms, repeat flowering, 5ft x 5ft), W. ‘Wine Roses’ (5ft tall & wide, rose pink flowers, dark purple foliage), W. florida 'Bristol Ruby' (deep pink flowers, green foliage, 6ft x 6ft).
Dwarf cultivars: W. florida 'Variegata Nana' has light pink flowers and variegated leaves, 3ft x 3ft. ‘My Monet’ grows up to 2ft x 18”, variegated leaves and deep purple-pink flowers.
Comments: Weigelas look best when left to grow to their desired shape and size, this means plan ahead. Give them enough space so they can show off all their beautiful flowers on their graceful arching stems. Select dwarf cultivars if you just don’t have the space to accommodate a regular sized species. 

The arching flower covered branches of a variegated weigela.

Wine & Rose weigela will often rebloom in summer and grows to a maximum of 5 feet.

The Bristol Ruby weigela grows to 6ft and is hardy from Zone 4 to 8.

The attractive green and cream coloured leaves of the variegated weigela are mostly covered by all its beautiful pink flowers.

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THE GARDEN WEBSITE INDEX

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Learn How to Garden Introduction 

• Planting Know How
• Soil Building
• Cover Crops
• Composting
• Compost Tea

 ​ Growing Food Introduction

• Crop Succession, Crop Rotation, Companion Planting

​Pruning
Lawns

Container Growing 101

• Choosing a Container

Monthly Flower Arrangements
Growing Roses Introduction 

• Types of Roses
• Climbing Roses
• Rose Insects & Diseases
• Pruning Roses

Mulching & Types Introduction

• Living Mulches – Groundcovers​

Fertilizing & Feeding Plants Introduction

• Fertilizers & Ratios
• Nutritional Deficiencies & Toxicities
• Organic Plant Food

Propagation Introduction

• Growing Seed Outdoors
• Growing Seed Indoors
• Taking Cuttings

​Amanda’s Blog
Plant of the Month

for the tropical Gardener

While working in Florida as horticultural consultant, it became apparent that there was a need for a book on tropical shrubs. There are so many wonderful shrubs to choose from, so I wrote a reference book to make the selections easier. Ornamental Tropical Shrubs includes pictures in full colour and information about the plants in point form. So if you live in the tropics and subtropics and need a reference book on tropical shrubs, or you just want to have a look-see click here. 

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Love plants, love to garden. ​
​Amanda's Garden Company
The Garden Website ​

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