Radio Collector's Afficionado's Resource

A Profusion of Blooms from Grandmother’s Garden

My bestloved deciduous shrub for mid-spring color is a plant that was widely grown in grandmother’s times – Kolkwitzia amabilis, ordinarily and aptly named Beauty Bush. This plant was came upon in China around the turn of the last century by the world’s preeminent plant explorer E.H. Wilson, who considered it one of his finest introductions. It speedily became very standard initial in England and then here. In 1946, the Royal Horticultural Society’s Wisley Gardens introduced an bettered form with superior flowering. This week we are featuring that selection of Beauty Bush – appropriately named ‘Pink Cloud.’ ‘Pink Cloud’ blooms for assorted weeks in May (in cool seasons up to a month) with a fountain of thousands of bell-shaped, soft pink flowers with yellow throats. The blooms are displayed on arching stems and in a literal sense cover the plant, creating a singularly effective display.

With new horticultural proficiencies of container growing, regrettably Beauty Bush fell into disfavor. It resents pot culture, looks spindly and weak in the container and is without apparent effort passed over. Once planted in the garden, however, it quickly and reliably grows robustly. I consider Beauty Bush to be a far superior plant to Weigela, yet for each 100 Weigela you see, you may spot one Beauty Bush in someone’s garden.

Maturing at eight feet tall and six feet wide, I have employed Beauty Bush in my landscape designs as a screen, as a specimen and at the corner of a house in groups of three. It looks peculiarly striking surrounded by early-flowering red peonies. I have never seen an insect or impairment of normal physiological function on a Beauty Bush. It asks only for any reasonable soil that is well-drained. It grows best in full sun, but will tolerate very light shade. Kolkwitzia is fabulously drought tolerant. I have a specimen planted strategically as you come up my driveway that has been in place for years and has never seen a drop of water from a hose – even in the worst of droughts. For greatest or most complete or best possible flower production, after regarding 5 years we commend an annual pruning right after the flowers fade. Either remove 1/3 of the stems (the oldest ones) at ground level or give the plant an all-over haircut, removing in regards to 25% of the foliage mass.

Planting and Care

Click here to view Pink Cloud on the Carroll Gardens website.

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