IDENTIFICATION

Scientific name:

Weigelia florida, Diervilla florida.

Italian common name:

Weigelia

Family:

Caprifoliaceae

Origin:

Distributed in northern China, Korea and Manchuria.

Evergreen or deciduous:

deciduous

Toxicity:

it is not toxic but its parts cannot be eaten

PLANT RECOGNITION

Height:

3 – 4 mt.

Width (extension):

3 – 4 mt.

Habit:

spreading shrub with arched branches and slightly hanging bushy habit

Leaf:

light green on upper page. They are ovate – lanceolate, acuminate at the apex and serrated at the edges with opposite trend, with serrations at the edges and a pointed end. They have rather pronounced ribs.

Flower:

pink on the outside, lighter or white on the inside and are gathered in bundles. Tubular, 2-4 cm long opening into five flattened terminal lobes.

Flowering:

May – July and sometimes second flowering in September

Fruit:

composed of two valves

Stem:

light brown

Perfume:

light

NEEDS

Light Exposure:

sun / partial shade

Soil type:

all but preferably alkaline, fertile, well drained, possibly clayey and containing mineral salts that provide the necessary nourishment to the plant. It is a plant that tolerates pollutants well.

Soil acidity:

Ph 8,2 – 8,8

Italian climatic area:

it survives between -15 and 37 °C in the Pre-Alps (zone 7), North and Apennines (8), Center (zone 9). Present in Lombardy, Veneto and Trentino Alto Adige.

Need for water:

moderate. Suffers from drought.

Pruning:

It flowers both on old growth (from the previous year) and on new growth that develops from old branches so that it may occasionally re-bloom throughout the summer. The new stems growing from the base will not blossom until next year. therefore, at the end of flowering, shorten the newly flowering branches a couple of throws below and leave the rest alone. The old branches and the shape to the plant will be given if necessary in October.

Diseases:

Fungi can cause serious problems for plants if they are not dealt with in time. Furthermore, aphids can infest the vegetative apexes of the plant, weakening it and making it sticky.

Cultivation:

fertilization in spring, close to flowering with mature manure at the foot of the plant.

PARTICULARITY

the Alexandra variety has purple leaves and measures 1.5m x 1.5m.

Annotations

genus dedicated to the German botanist Christian Ehrenfried von Weigel (1748-1831), author of a Flora of Pomerania and florida from floris – rich in flowers

among the particularly interesting varieties for cultivation in pots we note the “Monet” with variegated leaves (80 cm-1 m.), the “Alexandra” (1 m., 1.2 m.), the “nana variegata” ( 90 cm) or the “nana purpurea” (80 cm) and “Minor black” with almost black leaves (60 – 80 cm)

In the kitchen:

no use.