Weigela - abundant and brightly flowering shrubs. It is named after the German scientist K.E. Weigel. The plant belongs to the family Honeysuckle. Its homeland is the island of Java, east and southeast of Asia. Weigel can be found on moist soils in bright forests and on sunny lawns. Due to its beauty and unpretentious nature, it is used to decorate parks, gardens and personal plots. With a small species diversity, the number of decorative varieties of the most unusual palette is very large.
Botanical characteristics
Weigela is a deciduous shrub with erect, lignified stems. A branched rhizome feeds it without horizontal processes (stolons), so the bush does not capture the adjacent territory and remains compact. The stems are covered with brown cracking bark. They branch more from the base. Simple petiole leaves grow opposite. They have an oval shape with serrated sides and a pointed edge.
Weigela blooms twice a year: at the end of May and in August. Flowering lasts about a month. Buds are formed on young green and lignified last year's branches. In the axils of the leaves, individual flowers or small dense brushes of 2-6 buds appear. The pedicels are very short or absent altogether.
Corolla of the correct form consists of five ovoid petals with a pointed edge. They are painted in shades of white, yellow, pink, dark red or purple. Often, over time, the color becomes lighter or more saturated. At the base, the petals form a wide tube. Five stamens with linear anthers and a small column of ovary with capitate stigma peep out from it. The length of the opened flower reaches 5 cm.
After pollination, small bivalve boxes with hard woody edges are formed. They have an ovoid or oval shape with a narrowed nose. Inside are many small angular seeds, occasionally winged.
Types and varieties of Weigela
In total, 15 species are united in the Weigela genus. Of these, about 7 are used in culture. But varietal diversity knows no boundaries and is constantly updated with new samples.
Weigel Middendorff. Slender deciduous shrub grows in height by 1-1.5 m. It has good resistance to frost and actively grows and blooms even in the shade. The plant has ascending shoots. Bright green leaves along the veins are pubescent. In May and September, flowers with a diameter of 3-4 cm bloom. They are collected at the ends of young shoots in dense brushes of 2-6 buds and please with their beauty for 25-30 days. Bright yellow corollas are covered with orange spots and specks.
Blooming Weigela (Florida). A large shrub (up to 3 m in height) is covered with ovoid dark green leaves with short petioles. The foliage has finely serrated edges and a sparse pile along the central vein. Bright pink bell-shaped flowers are collected in loose inflorescences of 3-4 buds. They appear in May and last up to 20 days. Varieties:
- Weigela red - a dense bush up to 1.5 m in height grows dark brown-red leaves, and by mid-June blooms flowers with rich pink petals and a yellow center;
- Nana purpurea - a dwarf copy of the previous variety;
- Weigela pink - a sprawling bush dissolves small flowers. Outside, the petals are pink-carmine, and inside they are light, almost white;
- Variegata - frost-resistant, elegant variety with a height of 2-2.5 m blooms in small (up to 3.5 cm) bright pink flowers;
- Minor black is a dwarf, slowly growing shrub with dark green, reddish leaves throughout the summer covered with dark pink flowers 25 mm in diameter;
- Alexandra - a spherical shrub with a diameter of 1-1.5 m is covered with medium-sized burgundy or dark purple oval foliage, in the first half of summer it opens red-pink bells up to 4 cm in diameter.
Weigela hybrid. A bush with a dense crown grows to 150 cm tall. Beautiful tubular flowers with a delicate aroma bloom on it. The color is dominated by white, pink, purple, purple tones. Varieties:
- Bristol Ruby - at a height of 2.5 m, the diameter of the shrub reaches 3.5 m. Bright green leaves grow on the branches, and by the end of June tubular flowers appear. On the rose petals there is a ruby border and an orange spot at the base.
- Red Prince - a sprawling bush up to 1.5 m high consists of drooping shoots with green leaves. His flowers are bright red, large.
- Eva Ratke - a compact bush with a height of 50-60 cm in June-August is covered with glossy tubular flowers of carmine-red colors.
- Nana variegata is a compact Weigela with raspberry or white-pink flowers, collected in brushes of 3-4 buds.
- Cardinal is a large plant with abundant snow-white flowering.
- Weigela is red-leaved - shiny olive leaves in the center have a reddish spot.
- Carnival - a bush 50-70 cm tall with bright green oval leaves in June-July blooms tubular purple-red flowers.
Breeding methods
Weigels use seeds or cuttings for propagation. For sowing, seeds up to 1 year old should be taken. This method is suitable for propagation of species plants, since varietal characters are easily split. Crops can be carried out immediately in open ground in the fall or in early spring in pots with loose fertile soil. When friendly shoots with two leaves appear, they are dived and thinned out. After a year, the plants will grow 6-7 cm tall and will have 6-8 leaves. It is important to ensure that the plantings are not too thick, otherwise the rhizomes will be confused. From the second year, weigel can be planted in open ground. For young plants, protection against winter frosts is most important. At the age of two, the seedling will grow to 40-50 cm tall, and it will begin to bloom from 4 years.
For propagation, weigels by cuttings use green semi-lignified shoots. They are cut in the summer. Each branch should have 2 nodes. After cutting, the leaves are removed or shortened by 30-50%. For 1-2 hours, the cuttings are placed in ordinary warm water, and then treated with a root-forming composition (heteroauxin) for 12 hours. At this stage, they are kept in a dark place with a temperature of + 20 ... + 25 ° C. Then the cuttings are planted in sandy peat soil. Sprinkle the soil on top with a layer of river sand and cover the planting with a film for the greenhouse effect. Watering is carried out twice a day. Usually all planting material is rooted.
To plant lignified cuttings, they are cut in April, before buds open. The length of the branches is 15-20 cm. After treatment with Kornevin, the cuttings are planted in pots with sand and turfy soil. They are covered with a film. Rooting takes place within a few weeks, but with less effectiveness. After a month, the sprouts pinch, and then they are fed with an organic or mineral composition (mullein, superphosphate, ammonium nitrate). The grown plants are planted in the garden.
Landing and location
Weigel pick up a well-lit, enclosed area. From drafts and cold gusts of wind, buds fall off without blooming. The soil should be loose, fertile and sufficiently moist. It can be loam and sandy loam with a neutral or slightly alkaline reaction. Only the Weigel Middendorff adapts well to slightly acidic peaty soils.
In the garden, it is better to pick plants from the age of 3 years. Landings are carried out in early spring, before buds open. When planting in autumn, the weigel sometimes does not have time to adapt and dies in the frosty winter. For planting, pits with a depth of 30-40 cm are prepared. A drainage layer of gravel or shards is laid on the bottom. The free space is filled with earth with the addition of compost and nitrophosphate (up to 100 g per bush).
In group plantings, the distance depends on the height of a particular variety. It ranges from 80 cm to 1.5-2 m. Rhizomes are neatly laid out and compacted. The root neck should be on the surface or deepened by 1-2 cm. At the end of planting, carry out abundant watering and mulch the soil surface.
Care Features
Weigela is unpretentious, caring for her will not be too burdensome. Plants are watered only with prolonged absence of precipitation and on too hot days. Periodically, weed the site and remove weeds. This should be done with caution, since the root system is located close to the surface.
After transplanting with fertilizing for two years, weigel is not fertilized. Then in the spring make a portion of mineral fertilizer (ammofoska, diammofoska). In early summer, during the budding period, the bushes are watered with a solution of potassium sulfate or superphosphate. During autumn digging, wood ash (200 g / m²) or Kemira is introduced into the trunk circle.
Weigel needs regular pruning to keep it attractive. In the spring carry out sanitary cleaning. Broken and frozen branches are removed. In summer, the crown is thinned and shaped. During summer pruning, only part of the branches are removed, because repeated flowering is due to young growth. Every 3-4 years, the bushes must be rejuvenated. To do this, remove up to 30% of the branches. They are cut to the ground. Sometimes they practice full cutting of the bush. Worry about the renewal of the crown is not worth it, the Weigela perfectly tolerates any kind of haircuts.
In autumn, the Weigela is prepared for wintering. After leaf fall, the trunk circle is sprinkled with earth and mulched. The crown of heat-loving plants is tied with twine and covered with non-woven material or roofing material. The structure is fixed, and the top is covered with fallen leaves. In winter, it is recommended to trample the snow near the roots so that the rodents do not damage the shoots.
Usually, weigela is resistant to plant diseases. If the place for it is chosen too shady and damp, gray rot, rust or spotting may develop. “Topsin” or Bordeaux liquid (a mixture of lime with copper sulfate) helps to cope with the fungus. Preventive treatment is carried out before budding.
Among the most annoying parasites for Weigela, aphids, caterpillars, thrips, and spider mites predominate. When insects appear, the soil and shoots are treated with an insecticide (Aktara, Karbofos). You can also use herbal preparations (infusion of garlic, wormwood). Sometimes only planted plants begin to wither. The reason for this is the bears or larvae of the May beetle. They fall into the ground with manure. They also help abundant watering with a solution of insecticide.
Garden use
Weigel bushes are used in group and single plantings in open areas of the lawn, along the curb, at the entrance to the garden or near the house. They are also used for zoning, designing alpine slides or an exquisite Japanese-style garden. Weigela can be combined with other shrubs, such as barberry, cotoneaster, spirea, cypress.
