Deer don't bother my yard. I like my Kolkwitzia bush. Has a lovely show in spring, appearing to be a fountain of pink flowers. They totally cover the whole bush for a short time. Has needed no extra care. If you do any pruning to open it, branch cut will sprout sideways, leaving an unattractive branch. Better to let growth come from the ground and do what it will, much better look and gains height smoothly. Pruning midway up did not help the looks. I went back and took those pruned sticks out. Took a couple years to get started and fill out. I think my bush is about 5 years old, from a small plant. Up about 6ft, with a graceful shape and flowing branches. Not sure if there is a special name to the variety. It takes the cold well, my ground is not real special there, part sun-part shade, with a soaker hose that gets run if it is really dry in late summer. I am told bush is an old favorite, but only blooms fully once, yet some pink flowers linger on for a long time in spring. Leaves are a nice bright green, for good contrast with other plants like my Clematis on the fence beside it. I would plant it again.

Anything colder than zone 7 is pushing her limits. She grows in my zone 6 garden but not well enough to keep. If you look through the posts it's almost perfectly aligned that all zone 7's and up love her and zone 6's and down not so much. I do have one tucked against a house (house blocks the winter winds) and it does wonderfully.....heat from the house combined with the blocking of winds probably gives it a zone 7 micro climate.

Pull it when you see it. And keep pulling. The time to use glyphosate would have been several months ago, when the plant you didn't want was growing and healthy. It's easiest to kill then. What you probably did was put it into hibernation and now it's reviving. To use an herbicide without killing the dymondia, get a bunch of big paper cups paper bags, or whatever is the right size for shields. Put the cups over the dymondia, spray the weeds, and an hour or so later, remove the cups. Save them for the next time.

Thanks, "Holiday-ers" ... altho I am LOL! Cause part of the magic of the camera is framing what you want to share...so, SEE, you don't see any of my many, many WEEDS! Bee Balm this evening ....this area is part of the Door Arbor vignette: Closer side view: Beautiful Bee Balm getting ready to bloom ...close-up: Hydrangea & Red Sun (yup, I painted that cast iron sun 2 yrs ago): Maybe some of the Bee Balm will bloom for July 4th...it's RED! TFLookin'! Jeanne S.