Abelia x grandiflora - Glossy Abelia
Family: Caprifoliacea | Origin: China
It sometimes happens that a plant is so well used and successful that we take it for granted and forget to mention it or write about it; Such is the Glossy Abelia, which grows as a large, robust and beautiful shrub.
This is a wide and dense bush with arching branches, which can reach a height of 1.5-2 m and a diameter of 2-3 m.
The leaves are ovate and shiny dark green in color and turn purple-brown in winter. The bell-shaped flowers are white and clustered along the tips of the branches in great abundance from late spring to winter, but equally striking are the pink calyces that remain long after the flowers have fallen.
All these, together with the reddish branch tips create a green-red-white look that turns darker and crimson with the arrival of autumn and winter.
The shrub grows at a fast rate in almost any soil from full sun to partial shade with regular watering and is very long-lived.
Glossy Abelia is very suitable as a central focal bush, as a massive hedge, informal or trimmed, in combination with different foliage colors, behind lower shrubs and to cover areas even in low-maintenance public gardening.
It is also suitable in a large container and despite its size, manages even in small containers with frequent pruning. This is one of the best plants for formal pruning due to the small leaves and fast growth rate and it can be pruned to a variety of sizes and shapes without any damage to the plant.
Glossy Abelia is a hybrid of two species of Abelia from East Asia, created in Italy at the end of the 19th century and since then it has been used in gardening around the world with great success.
Another interesting cultivar of Abelia, which originated from a mutation found in the Mason nursery in New Zealand in the middle of the twentieth century, is the variety 'Francis Mason'.
This shrub has reddish branches that bear leaves that emerge orange and turn variegated and yellow-tinged when mature.
This abelia is also covered in abundant white flowers with pink calyces in summer and autumn and the whole plant turns yellow-orange in winter.
Yellow Abelia is a robust shrub that prefers cool climates and thrives in the Jerusalem area in light shade to partial sun. It can also be grown in the lowlands and on the coastal plain, but in these areas it will prefer partial or almost full shade.
Yellow Abelia does well in the ground and in containers, lasts for many years and is suitable for the same uses as its older brother, but its growth rate is slower and its final size is about 1.5×1.5 meters or a little more. It can also be trimmed and shaped easily and its special color can enrich many corners of the garden.
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