A flowering shrub with a beautiful name seems exotic to our gardeners, but in fact it deserves a place in a flower bed both by right of origin and due to its beauty. If you are not yet enjoying the lush flowering and fragrance, be sure to get acquainted with the weigela, because planting in open ground and caring for it is not as difficult as it seems.
The role of weigela in landscape design
Weigela is a perennial shrub related to honeysuckle.
Landscape designers love weigela for two things. Firstly, this shrub blooms twice a year, so it is easier to arrange a flowerbed of continuous flowering with it. The second highlight is the change in the shade of the flowers. Freshly opened buds are light, while fully open buds are bright. Weigela simply amazes with the play of shades in each flower cluster.
Weigela usually begins to bloom in mid-May and ends only in mid-June. Summer flowering is the most beautiful and lush, often behind the buds, greenery is not at all visible. At the end of August, the bush is again covered with inflorescences, but on a more modest scale. Flowers remain on the weigel until the very end of September.
Landscape designers use this shrub:
- in single plantings as a bright accent on the lawn;
- in group plantings to cover bare tree trunks, especially with an openwork crown;
- on alpine slides and rockeries (mostly undersized varieties);
- as a hedge (tall) and mixborder (low and medium).
That is, in almost any role that other ornamental shrubs perform, weigela can also come in handy. By the way, thanks to the varietal variety of shrubs, beautiful compositions can be created from different subspecies of weigel.
The plant grows well next to conifers, traditional for rockeries, as well as other shrubs: spirea, cotoneaster, viburnum (better Buldenezh), barberry, Japanese quince.
Climatic requirements
In nature, weigela grows in Central Asia, more than 15 varieties of this plant have been found there. Only three species are found on the territory of the Russian Federation, all of them grow in the southeast of the country.
If you come across Weigela early, Middendorf or Pleasant on sale, know that these are wild-growing species. They will grow well in the Far East, but they are not adapted to a more severe climate.
Varietal weigels came to us from Europe, where they were popularized by a professor of botany by the name of von Weigel. Therefore, they are quite resistant to cold climates and feel great in the middle zone of the Russian Federation under the open sky.
Weigela prefers fertile soil with a lot of humus, alkaline or neutral reaction and good aeration (loose or loosened). It is extremely important not to allow waterlogging, otherwise the plant accustomed to a drier climate will quickly die.
If your region has acidic soil or you cannot provide the weigela with the correct moisture regime, it is better to grow this shrub in a tub. If there is a sufficiently dry place on the site and you are ready, if necessary, to apply the necessary fertilizers and regulate the reaction of the soil, landing in the ground is quite acceptable.
Popular varieties
Weigela is incredibly diverse in color and flower shape, bush height and crown characteristics. Thanks to the efforts of specialists, every gardener can find a variety of this shrub that fully meets his needs and tastes. Among the most famous subspecies of weigela:
- Bristol Ruby is a tall subspecies of hybrid origin. Well suited for single plantings and hedges, grows up to 2,3 m in diameter and 3,5 m in height. It got its name from the ruby red flowers that bloom in June-July. Recovers quickly after pruning;
- Nana Variegata is a slow growing dwarf variety bred specifically for rockeries. Leaves are white-motley, and this is a marker of light-loving varieties. Flowers are collected in inflorescences of 3-4, have a pale pink or crimson color;
- Middendorf is a natural type of medium-sized shrub (1–1,5 m). Leaves are bright green with two-sided edging along the veins. The flowers are medium yellow, growing singly or 2–6 on one peduncle. It blooms twice, in our climate for 25-30 days. Weigela Middendorf is the only subspecies that easily tolerates the acidic reaction of the soil and grows on peaty soil;
- Candida is a tall variety with white flowers. Popular with foreign gardeners.
- Eva Rathke is a Polish hybrid of the Korean weigela and the abundantly flowering weigela. The bush has a height of 0,7-1 m, the crown is compact. Tubular flowers of a carmine shade with shine appear in July-August. The growth rate is moderate. Needs shelter for the winter.
The most beautiful varieties of weigela in the photo
For all types of weigela, the opposite arrangement of leaves remains in common, the absence of stipules, the funnel or bell-shaped shape of the flowers, the erect position of the shoots and the fruits in the form of bivalve bolls. By these signs, you can easily recognize relatives, even if other parameters are very different.
Video about the types and varieties of shrubs
Planting methods in open ground
Planting a weigela traditionally begins with choosing a suitable place. It should be sunny or located in a weak partial shade, this southeastern beauty does not like strong shading. Light-loving varieties with edging on the leaves are planted only in a sunny place. Another important point is the wind. There must be protection from it (a building, a fence, a less sensitive shrub), otherwise strong gusts will ruffle flowers and foliage.
We plant weigela with seedlings:
- Dig a hole in the selected place 50×50 cm and a depth of half a meter. For regions with fertile land where active feeding is not required, a pit depth of 40 cm is recommended.If there are several seedlings, make sure that the distance between them is 2 m for tall varieties and 0,8 m for low-growing ones, as over time the bush forms a lush crown.
- Place drainage on the bottom of the pit – layers of gravel and sand. The layer thickness is about 15 cm, it is better not to decrease it.
- Place a seedling in the hole and carefully cover it with a soil mixture of 2 parts humus / leafy soil, 2 parts sand and 1 part turf soil. If your garden lacks fertile soil, add 100g of nitrophoska and 15L of compost for each bush to the soil mixture. Compact the soil by hand and lightly (weigela roots do better in loose soil). The root collar should be at ground level.
- Water the plants abundantly and mulch the root circle.
For this method, three-year-old nursery seedlings are best suited; younger plants are not yet ready to grow outdoors without additional supervision.
If experience suggests that the survival rate of plants in your garden is low, you can treat the weigela with a growth stimulant (Radifarm, Viva +).
Weigela care in the garden
If you know the basic needs of a weigela, caring for her becomes not too difficult.
Firstly, the plant needs constant aeration, so the soil in the trunk circle must be loosened regularly. After watering or weeding, it is imperative to cultivate the land to a depth of 5–8 cm. Since not every garden owner can devote so much time to an individual bush, an easier solution can be found – to mulch the tree trunk circle with peat or sawdust. If the mulch layer is 10 cm, the need for frequent loosening will completely disappear.
The root system of the weigela is fibrous (without a well-defined central root extending into the depths), but diverges to the sides not too close to the surface. Therefore, when loosening, you can be sure that when the spade bayonet is fully buried, you will not damage the roots.
The second need is water procedures. It is especially important to water the weigela during dry periods and in spring after a winter with little snow. You shouldn’t feel sorry for moisture – each bush needs a bucket of water for 8-10 liters.
The third stage of caring procedures is pruning. It is held annually in the spring to remove twigs that have frozen over the winter. You only need to form a bush once every 2-3 years.
How to care during growth and flowering
To help the weigela get ready for the lush spring bloom, it needs to be fed. Mineral fertilizers are applied even in the snow, so that when the plant wakes up, it can immediately take advantage of useful elements. Urea is used as a top dressing (20 g per mXNUMX2), superphosphate and potassium salt (10 g per mXNUMX2).
The time for the second treat comes when the flower buds form. Then weigela needs double superphosphate and potassium sulfate (30 g each per 1 bush or 1 m2 area). The third feeding is carried out before the autumn digging and consists of ash (200 g per 1 m2) or a specialized team (for example, “Kemira-Autumn”).
After feeding the plant, it is imperative to water very abundantly.
Care after flowering
Immediately after flowering is over, it is the best time for formative pruning of the weigela. At the same time, old shoots are removed, and young ones are shortened by half. The second procedure is postponed for 2 or even 3 years. Further work is carried out according to the calendar, taking into account the weather, the climate of your region and the state of the plants.
One of the most difficult tasks in caring for a weigela is to properly prepare a heat-loving plant for winter. As the saying goes, here it is better to overdo it than to miss it. Gardeners use two methods of covering: with pressed branches and collected.
Low-growing and young shrubs for the winter are “spread” on the ground, carefully bending the branches and fixing them so as not to straighten out. Such a mound can be framed with mulch and covered with a waterproof material of choice (from spandbod to film), and then fix the shelter. It is convenient to do this from above with spruce branches, and around the bush – with stones.
Tall bushes with woody branches with this approach are easy to break, so they are covered in an upright position. It is necessary to tie the bush into a loose bundle, cover with the selected material and protect with a wire frame.
What problems do gardeners have
One of the possible difficulties when planting a weigela is the wrong time. While most other shrubs and trees are preferred to be planted in the fall, it is best to replant in the spring. The bushes of the autumn planting take root much worse and often die. To “preserve” the seedlings until spring (if you accidentally or unknowingly acquired them in the fall), dig in them in an inclined position and sprinkle most of the crown with earth. In this state, the weigela successfully overwinters and you can plant it in the spring.
The rest of the problems, too, in most cases, are associated with the untimely execution of garden robots, or an insufficient number of them.
Table: seasonal care jobs
Methods of reproduction
Gardeners practice reproduction of weigela by seeds and vegetative methods: cuttings (rooting of cut shoots), layering (rooting of shoots due to bending and covering with earth without tearing from the bush), young shoots of the stump (“kids” that regularly appear at the root neck). Growing cuttings from shoots and shoots is carried out identically, and the method of cutting is simpler, since the young growth does not require additional care at the stage of rooting.
How to grow weigela seedlings
Unlike many other ornamental shrubs, weigela reproduces well by seeds. The collected seeds remain viable for a whole year, but they should not be stored longer. Preliminary preparation of seeds is not required, they are quite tenacious and without additional help. For sowing, you can use seedling trays or flower pots covered with film, in general, any semblance of a mini-greenhouse.
As a rule, all plants sprout at the same time, which greatly simplifies the care of young shoots. The pick is carried out after the appearance of the second pair of leaves, then you can do weeding. If the seedlings have enough room for growth (7–8 cm between neighbors), in the future they only require watering.
At the end of the first year after the emergence of seedlings, the seedlings grow up to 6-7 cm in height, and the root system occupies an area with a diameter of 3-5 cm. At this stage of life, the stem does not branch yet, but it has 3 or more pairs of leaves, as well as axillary and apical kidneys. These seedlings are ready for outdoor growing. It is best to take the boxes out into the garden and place them under the trees that create partial shade.
By the second year of life, the seedling has a height of 40-50 cm and has a well-grown superficial root system. Such a plant can already find a permanent residence in your garden. But the first flowers will have to wait another 2 years.
The seed propagation method is not suitable for hybrid and garden forms of weigela, in which the desired decorative properties have been imparted by grafting. It is best to sow natural forms of weigela: pleasant, early, Middendorf.
We grow weigela from cuttings
Vegetative propagation is the best way to maintain the varietal traits of your green pet. The optimal time for this procedure is mid-June, when the spring flower buds have already completed their function, and the new ones have not yet appeared. Young, not yet stiff shoots should be cut off. The bottom cut should be straight, the traditional oblique will cut the knot to which the leaves are attached. The top cut should be positioned above the sheet cushion, the bottom cut just below it.
In the distant school years, you were certainly told that plants have three ways of arranging leaves on a stem: alternate (ladder), opposite (paired leaves grow opposite each other) and whorled (leaves cover the stem in a ring). Novice gardeners should definitely remember this, since cuttings in plants with an alternate position are cut from the bottom along the oblique, with whorled and opposite ones – only in a straight line.
On the issue of cutting off the two pairs of leaves remaining on the stem, experts are not in agreement: you can remove them completely, cut them in half, or leave 2/3 of the leaf blade.
Then you should proceed like this:
- Put fresh cuttings in water at room temperature for 1–2 hours.
- Treat the prepared stems with a growth stimulant and leave overnight in a dark, warm room. Optimum holding time – 12 hours, temperature – 20о-25%оC. A solution of 150 mg of heteroauxin in 1 liter of water is usually used as a stimulant. Please note that without stimulating growth, the probability of rooting the cuttings is reduced by an order of magnitude.
- Prepare a mixture of sand with peat and plant the cuttings in open ground, having placed them at a depth of 1 cm. Top the soil mixture should be covered with washed river sand, and then covered tightly with plastic wrap (as an option, with a cut plastic bottle). Water the seedling twice a day until it is fully rooted.
Experts say that if you stick to this method, good rooting is guaranteed.
Weigela reproduces equally well with both winter and summer cuttings. But summer seedlings bloom for the first time as early as 2 years old, and this is a huge advantage for impatient gardeners. Unfortunately, the first buds will have to be removed before opening in order for the bush to form a more lush and dense crown.
If you missed summer cuttings, you can try growing winter cuttings. They are pruned in April, separating the stem under the bud with unblown leaves. Further, the technology is similar, but rooting is carried out in pots with a soil mixture of sand and turf. After the formation of roots, the plants are pinched and fed with cow dung (0,5 l of slurry per 1 m2) or mineral fertilizers (30 g of superphosphate + 25 g of ammonium nitrate).
Keep in mind that despite additional efforts, winter cuttings not only grow worse, but also take root less readily. Therefore, if you need a guaranteed result, it is better to wait until summer.
The nuances of cultivation in different regions
Due to the high adaptability of the weigela, it grows well almost throughout the country. But there are several nuances that should be taken into account by a gardener from regions with a harsh climate.
Growing in the suburbs and the Leningrad region
In this region, hybrid varieties of this shrub feel best: Candida, Eva Ratke, Rosea, Lucifer. Of those that grow wild in a temperate continental climate, Weigela early is appropriate, which is often found in the south of the Ussuri region and blooming (varieties Purpurea and Alba). But the latter tolerates the cold worse and needs careful shelter. If you are not embarrassed by the need to protect plants from frost, Weigela garden and Weigela Middendorf will also grow well in a garden near Moscow. Here they will not only grow well, but will also be able to successfully propagate by cuttings and seeds according to the standard scheme.
Weigela planting in the Moscow region is carried out according to the technology already described above. The only difference is that a spring planting is recommended. The first flowering will have to wait 4 years.
In cold climates, weigela of autumn planting often dies already in the first winter, despite careful wrapping.
If you want to get a richly flowering compact bush, two additional dressings per year are enough. During the swelling of leaf buds (but before the first leaves bloom), nitroammofosk is introduced, 40 g per bucket of water under each bush. At the end of spring, before the blooming of flower buds, potassium sulfate and superphosphate are added in an amount of 30 g per 10 liters of water for each bush.
Before the first frosts, the bushes should be covered with agrofibre, dry leaves or spruce branches (just like roses). If the winter is predicted to be harsh, it is better to play it safe and use roofing material or spandbod for shelter.
Growing in Siberia and the Urals
The only obstacle to the normal growth of weigela in this region is the severe winter frosts. Therefore, only the most resistant varieties of weigela need to be planted here: Alba, Striatum, Victoria, Styriaka, Red Prince, Eva Rathke. Gardeners claim that they are able to survive the winter with a short-term drop in temperature to -43оC. Of course, even these varieties will not hibernate without shelter, but they can be grown outdoors, without wasting time on winter care of tubs.
Planting of seedlings here is also preferable in the spring, since the autumn does not have time to get strong enough before frost. For the rest, caring for a weigela in Siberia is almost the same as in other regions.
TOP 5 useful tips
- When using weigela in group plantings, be sure to make a common near-trunk circle. This will greatly facilitate loosening, watering and mulching the area and you will spend less time caring for the group..
- You should not buy expensive pest control drugs for weigela. You can also do with traditional means: anabazine sulfate (0,2% solution), nicotine sulfate (0,4% active substance + a little soap to fix on the leaves), trichlormegaphos (0,2-0,3% solution), karbofos (solution 0,2%), chlorophos (0,3-0,5%). If you are afraid to work with chemicals and complex insecticides (“Keltan”, “Rogor”, “Nitrafen”), an infusion of makhorka, garlic, wormwood, onions or bitters will help get rid of aphids, leaf-eating caterpillars, thrips, spider mites and mealybug pepper.
- If you notice bacterial cancer on the root neck of the bush, do not try to save it – all efforts will be in vain. It is better to dig up and burn the plants quickly so that other representatives of the flora in your garden do not get infected with this disease.
- Those who are lazy to care for weigela seedlings can simplify their task and take advantage of the help of nature. There is no need to pick seeds in the fall – leave them in the ground and let them grow without your participation. In such a severe test, the strongest seedlings will survive, which will be much easier to grow up to two years of age.
- When freshly transplanted seedlings begin to wilt and change the color of the leaves to yellow, this indicates a plant disease. Check for surface signs of parasites and make sure the humidity is correct. It so happens that everything is in order, but the plants continue to wither. Then, most likely, you unintentionally brought in the parasites yourself when fertilizing the seedling – the larvae of the May beetle or the bear that feed on the roots. Try to spill soil around the bushes with a solution of karbofos or actara, and the weigela will recover over time.
What gardeners say: reviews from practitioners
As you can see, weigela is not as capricious as she is said to be. Most gardeners are happy with their shrubs, even if they don’t follow their care plan 100%. Therefore, be sure to try planting it at home, because you can get no less pleasure from leaving than from contemplating its bright buds.