Brand:  Proven Winners

Description:

An outstanding compact shrub presenting new foliage flushed with red, maturing to a tight and tidy mound of glossy green; extra large, pink-violet blooms appear all summer long; a great focal point in the garden, borders or containers

Ornamental Features

Pinky Bells® Abelia features showy clusters of lightly-scented pink tubular flowers with violet overtones at the ends of the branches from early summer to early fall. It has attractive green foliage with hints of chartreuse which emerges red in spring. The small glossy oval leaves are highly ornamental and remain green throughout the winter.

Landscape Attributes

Pinky Bells® Abelia is a multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with a mounded form. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other landscape plants with less refined foliage.

This shrub will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and is best pruned in late winter once the threat of extreme cold has passed. It is a good choice for attracting birds, bees and butterflies to your yard, but is not particularly attractive to deer who tend to leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Pinky Bells® Abelia is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• Hedges/Screening
• Border Edging
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Pinky Bells® Abelia will grow to be about 3 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 4 feet. It tends to fill out right to the ground and therefore doesn't necessarily require facer plants in front. It grows at a slow rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 30 years.

This shrub does best in full sun to partial shade. You may want to keep it away from hot, dry locations that receive direct afternoon sun or which get reflected sunlight, such as against the south side of a white wall. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. This plant should not require much in the way of fertilizing once established, although it may appreciate a shot of general-purpose fertilizer from time to time early in the growing season. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid.

Pinky Bells® Abelia makes a fine choice for the outdoor landscape, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its height, it is often used as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when grown in a container, it may not perform exactly as indicated on the tag - this is to be expected. Also note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.