MEET THE 2024 FLOWERING SHRUB OF THE YEAR™ – WINE & SPIRITS® WEIGELA
TOP 3 REASONS TO GROW WINE & SPIRITS® WEIGELA
All the Drama, None of the Work
This durable, low maintenance shrub offers so much for so little. Provide sunshine and a little water and you’ve got yourself a garden party!
Unique Black & White Look
With deep burgundy flushed foliage and bubbly white blooms, these neutral tones go with any home color and style.
Brings in the Wings, Not the Hooves
Pollinators and hummingbirds will go for this weigela every day it’s in bloom, but deer will pass it right on by.
Every day is a garden party when you plant this fun weigela in your landscape! It charms with a unique combination of bubbly white flowers and dark foliage on a three to five foot tall plant that hosts its peak floral show in late spring to early summer. Added bonus: deer tend to pass this easy to grow, cold hardy shrub right on by.
Make Every Day a Garden Party
| When you face gardening challenges like deer, clay and high pH soil, it can be frustrating to find plants that rise to the occasion. Wine & Spirits® weigela does just that! This durable and fun flowering shrub becomes covered with lime green buds and bubbly white blooms in late spring to early summer. Dark burgundy-green foliage offers dramatic contrast, creating an overall black and white effect when viewed from across the yard. There’s nothing else like it in the world of weigela. |
HOW TO GROW WINE & SPIRITS® WEIGELA
If you garden in USDA zones 4 through 9, ‘ Weigela needs full sun to thrive unless you live in the warmest part of its hardiness range where it can handle some light afternoon shade. Look around your yard for a spot where it is very sunny for most of the day. You’ll want to choose a place that receives more than six hours of afternoon sun for your weigela. It does not need to be in very close proximity to a sprinkler head since this shrub only needs average amounts of moisture to grow well. If you garden in clay, choose a higher part of the yard since this shrub prefers well-drained soil. When you take your new weigela out of the pot, if the roots are densely circled around, loosen them up a bit to break the “root memory”. This will encourage them to grow outward instead of continuing to grow in a circular pattern. A good rule of thumb is to dig your hole twice as wide and just as deep as the plant’s rootball. Note that our shrub partners at Proven Winners® ColorChoice® Shrubs do not recommend amending the soil at planting time or adding fertilizer to the planting hole. When backfilling, press the soil down with your hand firmly to remove any big air pockets around the roots. Then, water the plant to help the soil settle around it. Spread a 2 to 3 inch thick layer of mulch around the base of the shrub taking care to keep it pulled away from the bark.
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MAINTENANCE Weigela is a very durable shrub that requires little maintenance. Only average amounts of moisture are needed once the plant is established, so if you live where it rains often enough to keep the soil fairly moist, you won’t need to water it often. If you want your weigela to grow faster, feed it once per season in early spring with a granular fertilizer formulated for woody plants, such as a rose fertilizer. However, fertilizing is not necessary for this shrub to grow and bloom well as long as your soil isn’t completely lacking in organic matter. Keep in mind that your new weigela may be finished blooming already when you purchase it. Since the flower buds form on “old wood”, meaning last year’s branches, it’s important not to prune it until the following year after it is done blooming. Pruning sooner can eliminate next year’s flowers. Wine & Spirits weigela naturally has a nicely rounded form, but it’s not a bad idea for the first few years to prune it to shape immediately after the late spring flowers are spent. This will help the shrub form a more attractive framework in the long run.
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COMPANION PLANTS When choosing plants to pair with your Wine & Spirits weigela, look for those that share similar cultural preferences—namely, full sun and average soil. If you garden in clay or alkaline soil, choose companions that can also handle such conditions. The deep burgundy-green foliage of this weigela acts as a dramatic backdrop for contrasting bright and pastel colored flowers and foliage. Smooth hydrangeas like the ones on this list are just starting to bud up when Wine & Spirits is in peak bloom, and their white, pink or green flowers really pop out against the dark weigela foliage. Paraplu Pink Ink® rose of Sharon and Happy Face® Yellow potentilla are two more summer bloomers that would create a striking pairing.
Another durable shrub that can handle clay and alkaline soils along with Wine & Spirits weigela is an extraordinarily colorful selection of false spirea named Mr. Mustard®. Imagine how eye-catching its yellow, orange, red, pink and lime green, ferny textured foliage would look paired with a deep burgundy-green weigela. Plus, its creamy white flowers will keep pollinators returning to that nook of your landscape through early summer. Since deer aren’t interested in either shrub, you can plant them with confidence, sit back and enjoy the view. |
