ABELIA (Abe'lia)
- Evregreen and deciduous shrubs, about 30 species
- Zones 6 and 7 Go to zones
DESCRIPTION: These pretty deciduous or evergreen shrubs are originally from China, Japan, the Himalayas and Mexico. They belong to the Honeysuckle family, Caprifoliaceae. Their waxy, funnel- or tubular-shaped flowers are borne in profusion and their calyxes often remain attractive long after the rest of the flower has fallen off. A. grandiflora, the Glossy Abelia, is a beautiful hybrid that grows 3 to 6 ft. high and is covered with lustrous, dark green leaves. The lightly scented, white flowers are stained with pink. They are produced from mid-summer to mid-fall singly or in clusters of up to four. A. Edward Goucher is a small, semi-evergreen hybrid with shiny, bright green leaves that are bronze when young. In the summer, large, lavender-pink flowers are produced.
POTTING: Abelias can be grown in the southern half of the U.S. These plants should be planted in the spring or early autumn. They can be grown in any average soil though they'll flourish in well-drained loam with leaf mold, compost or peat moss added. They can handle partial shade but prefer full sun. Pruning should be done in the spring. Old shoots or branches, those that have bloomed, along with dead branches and weak twigs, should be cut out. Even if they're pruned to the ground, which should happen if they're killed down in the winter, flowers will grow the same year on shoots that grow from the roots.
PROPAGATION: Cuttings, 3 inches long, may be taken from semi-woody shoots of the current year's growth in July or August. They should be inserted in sand, vermiculite or perlite in a propagating greenhouse, cold frame or under a bell jar. Keep them enclosed for four or five weeks to encourage the cuttings to develop roots. When they have a sufficient amount of roots, pot them individually in 3-inch pots filled with loam, leaf mold and sand and keep them in a cold frame for the winter. They may also be increased by layering the lower branches in the spring.
VARIETIES
A. buddeoides : Resembles A. triflora, but the leaves are smaller and sepal to half as long. SW China. Zone 8.
A. chinensis : Spreading deciduos shub to 1.5m. Branchlets minutely red-lanuginose when young. Leaves to 4 X 2.5cm, tapered or minutely at the base, dark green and lighter beneath. Flowers white in forking clusters 5, 4-6mm, corolla 12.5mm. Summer-autumn. China. Zone 7.
A. Edward Goucher : ( A. Xgrandiflora X A. schumannii. ) Hardy semi-evergreen hybrid. Leaves resembles A. Xgrandiflora. Flowers are larger than in A. Xgrandiflora, mauve to salmon with an orange-yellow throat. Summer-autumn. Zone 5.
A. engleriana : Deciduos shub to 180cm. Black brown, minutely lanuginose on young shoots and twigs, later glossy bright green. Flowers rose, usually paired at axils of branchlets on 1-year-old growth, narrow-oval, 8.5mm, summer. China ( Sichuan ) Zone 6.
A. floribunda : Evergreen shub, 1.3-5m. Leaves to 4.5 X 2.5cm, ovate to rounded, acute, dark shiny green above, paler beneath. Flowers pendulous,clustered subterminally on 1 year old branchlets, pale rose to cherry red, summer. Mexico. Zone 7.
A. graebneriana : Readily distinguished from A, engleriana by its larger, leaves and flowers. Leaves 4-5 X 3-3.5cm, ovate. Flowers apricot to pale pink, throat yellow, clustered at branchlet tips, summer. China. Zone 5.
A. Xgrandiflora : ( A. chinensis X A. uniflora ) Semi-evergreen shrub to 180cm. Branches slender, arching, downy. Leaves 3.5-5 x 2.5cm, ovate, acute, usually shallow serrate, emerging dronze pink, dark green above, lighter and skiny beneath, deep purple bronze in autumn. Flowers white. Introduced to Italy. Zone 5.
A. integrifolia
A. ionandra
A. schumannii
A. serrata
A. spathulata
A. triflora
A. umbellata
A. uniflora;
A. zanderi
A. chinenais
A. rupestris
A. rupestris
A. rupestris
A. longituba
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