Abelia

Common Names: Glossy abelia
Origin: Eastern Asia, Mexico

Masses of bell-shaped white flowers
Colourful foliage
Perfect for pots & containers

Abelia are a time-honoured cottage shrub, loved for its beautiful show of bell-shaped flowers, small, glossy green foliage, and dense habit. There are some new varieties with foliage of a different colour, variegated or produce a red leaf that gets deeper as the temperature gets cooler. They make ideal potted or container plants, low to medium hedges or as a flowery garden filler.

Plant Type: Shrub

Uses: Feature, Hedging

Garden Types: Cottage, Pots & Containers

Care

Sun Requirements: Prefers a full sun or part shade position

Water Requirements: Water regularly until established. Once established they are drought-hardy.

Soil Requirements: Prefers moist, well drained loamy soil. Will tolerate sand and clay soils

Fertilizing: Slow Release general-purpose fertilizer in spring and summer. Not required once established unless soil lacks nutrients

Pruning: Late winter to early spring. It can also be trimmed during cooler periods in summer to keep its form

Tolerances: Drought, sun and light frost. Doesn’t tolerate hard freezes.

Diseases: Disease and pest resistant

Key Features

Flower: Bell shaped, white with a pink tinge and lightly fragrant

Foliage: Dark to light green with red tinge in the autumn. Some varieties are variegated, glossy or have a mixed colour of yellows, oranges, reds, purples and greens.