Sounds perfect.

It's a good little shrub. I've been around nursery stock for nine years, full-time.

Conditons are right if that's what you like.

Dax

I came here today to look up Wine and Roses and found this thread without even doing a search. Anyway, my Wine and Roses has done NOTHING since it was planted years ago. It has not grown an inch. Never leafs out until middle of summer and even then it is not lush. It won't die either. It just "exists" without doing anything. I am in Z5 and have it on the E side of the house. I am moving it today to a sunnier location to see if that will make a difference. I do have it planted right now, amongst some yews. Could the soil be to acidic from the yews, and hence affect the W&R? I feel I just wasted my money on this thing. I would never recommend them.

I love my Wine and Roses so much I bought Lucifer, French Lace and Midnight Wine. They're slow to leaf out in the spring, but once they bloom, I have residual blossoms all the way through frost.
Mine are in full blown, mean, dry sun. Slow growing, but I like 'em.

Oh - you can easily root the stems by stripping off some leaves, buring it, and keeping it moist. So if you decide you want more than one...

Oh - my Midnight Wine is with Little Elf Spirea for great color contrast.

Crape Myrtles grow 2-3' a year, so don't discount how fast it'll offer shade.

Christine

I love the Wine and Roses. Although it does take a while to leaf out, it stays a nice size without pruning, blooms profusely and always gives me a second flush of blooms (without my having to do anything). Lots of sun is the key.

Thanks for all the good replies.

I think I will go and get some of those weigela and will research the spirea mentioned. My Tuscarora's were cut down to the ground this spring, after they suffered from two years of drought and the recent Easter freeze. So even at growth 2-3 feet a year, they will need to stay in pots until their trunks are thick enough to survive our winters once they are planted in the ground outside. That should take a couple years. Then once planted I will not let them get full like a shrub. They will be kept with cleaned trunks. That is why I think the weigela should still get lots of sun for a long time.

Bud - I am in SE Wisconsin (Z5) - my weigela have been in the ground, for three years, in full sun. The first spring after they were planted, they bloomed beautifully! Every year after that, blah. I contemplated pulling them out last Spring, but after I pruned them way back, they leafed out pretty good, and I thought that they may have just had a bad winter (60 degree weather for a few days, in January that winter). Every where I went last Spring, I noticed a lot of weigela that were dead - including several of my neighbors.

But this year, the same old thing. I just noticed this week, though, they they are beginning to leaf out. I don't think that I will get blooms on them, however.

If they don't boom this Spring, they are out of here! I think someone told me last year, the Weigela just don't do well in this area.

S.

I have had about 20 wine & roses on the east, west, and south sides of the house in SE PA for 3 years. They are leafing out now. The flowers are spectacular.

My 3 midnight wine are garbage that do not bloom.

My wine and roses are just starting to leaf out at the base and there are some blooms. Every year I've had to cut back the plants severely because they won't grow until I do so. Is that how I should be treating them? I wonder if they get damaged from the snow every winter since they are along the driveway.

I'm a novice gardener, so any constructive comments are welcome.

My W&R is along the driveway and I never get any winter kill. However, mine started leafing out a week or so ago (still no blooms), so it seems late for your to be just getting leaves at the base.

Sorry, no advise or anything from me since I never do anything with mine except watch it grow.

Here in central western PA, my wine and roses is fully leafed out and has a few buds starting to open. It will be in full bloom in a week or so. It has been in the ground 8 years and has never failed to impress me. I cut it back by about a third each year after the bloom is finished, keeping it to about a 4 ft. shrub.

Hi - I'm in Madison Wisconsin. Have had this one for several years now. It's on the west side of my house but near the south-west corner. After it's first two winters it was a dissapointment with lots of die back, etc. However, I had read Weigela can take some time to establish so decided if it didn't do well during it's fourth summer (and bloom) it was a goner. Well, it bloomed very nicely and has ever since. It is still in the process of leafing out now but I noticed today that it is starting to get some height on it.

I think here in Wisconsin, you probably need to wait a few years on this one but it is well worth the wait.

Beleive it or not, but I have blooms at the base under all the (apparently) dead wood. The top looks fairly dead. I've read elsewhere about caning back the weigela by about 1/3. I guess I'll give it a while, then cut it back if it doesn't green up. It seemed to work last year.

BTW, mine are about 3' in diameter.

I am new to Wine and Roses -- thought it would great with my new black mulch and varigated liriope -- but the Proven Winner plants that were tagged "Wine and Roses" have light green leaves and are loaded with buds just ready to pop. Are they mislabeled? Do the leaves start out green and ripen to burgundy with sun exposure, or was I hoodwinked?!

I just bought a PW Wine and Roses yesterday. The plant is about 18 inches tall, and the leaves are mainly purple but green near the spine of the leaf. I think you might not have a wine n roses..

I'm in coastal SE CT & I've got W&R planted in a full-sun shrub border with a globe, dwarf Colorado Blue Spruce 'Montgomery' & a Salix integra 'Flamingo' for neighbors. I was a little unsure when I planted W&R because when we lived 100 miles further north in NH, my weigelas didn't perform all that spectacularly...late to leaf out & lots of winter dieback.

But, this W&R planted here 100 miles further south & Zone 6(b) - Zone 7(a) & near the shore has stunningly lived up to its hype. It is a little show in the spring but right now, it's put out tremendous new growth, filled in beautifully, & is just starting to open buds of which there are hundreds. I started with a larger-sized shrub two seasons ago. So, after two years...I'm thrilled with this little shrub. I've not had to touch it with a pair of pruners once.

Tricia

The foliage on Wine and Roses is darkest in more sun and they will definitely have more greenish leaves in less sun. Mine are in full bloom right now and are a favorite of the hummingbirds!

I am new to the whole gardening scene. I have Wine & Roses in my garden and would like to know how often do they need to be watered? The flowers and some of the leaves are brown and wilting and I do not know if it is deom too much or not enough water. Also some of the branches have no leaves and are bare, will they come back or is it dead?

angelom1972,

A bit more info would be helpful in answering your questions.

Where are you located? Is the weigla W&R newly planted? How frequently are you watering? What exposure? Any signs of insects?

In general, the shrub is quite tolerant of dry conditions. Like any new planting though...if it just went in the ground & hasn't had time to get its roots down then you'll need to keep the soil moist (not saturated). Dig down 2-4" in the soil next to the shrub. Is it moist? If not, water.

The branches that haven't leafed out yet have probably winter killed. It's getting quite late even for weigela to leaf out. Prune back to live wood & they will quickly regrow.

/tricia

I just planted a 1 gallon one two weeks ago and the tops are flopped over. Any ideas on why? It's West and gets great sun. With the rain I think it's gotten enough water. I was hoping this was going to be the perfect choice to shield my rain barrel.
THanks for any advice.

I live in PA, they are located in the front of the house which is where the sun hits the hardest. They were planted in September when they did my landscaping. The landscaper said to water them every couple of days which is what I did unless we got rain.

I had one that was doing poorly in a very dry and sunny slope. I almost trashed it last fall, but I decided to try it somewhere else where it would get a little better care. So far its doing well. we'll see.

2 of my 4 midnight wine's had a tough winter and didn't leaf out well. They barely bloom but the foliage is good eventually.

I've been growing Wine and Roses for about 8 years now. AT my old house I had a lot of shade and they did not look as good as I expected. At my new house I have lots of sun and my Wine and Roses have great color and get lots of hot pink flowers. Some years they flower so heavily, the plants don't put out as many leaves. I've discovered that cutting them back about our 1/4 or 1/3 off the top results in really nice new foliage and more flowers.

Weigela bloom most predominantly on old wood, so if you want to prune it back, it's best to do so after it's major bloom of the season AND when it'll still have enough time for the subsequent new growth to strengthen enough to survive the winter. I hope that helps!

Just thought I'd post this pic of 'Midnight Wine'because the poor lil fella has been getting some bad pub lately. I have a lawn border done with about a dozen of them along with 'Magic Carpet'and 'Limemound'. They were spectacular this year, I just fertilize them with Terosa when I do my roses.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:239177}}

I'm considering putting down two of these in the front of my house which faces N-E. I'm wondering if this will provide sufficient sunlight for these beauties. This time of year, the area where I plan on planting them gets about 5-6 hours of sunlight before the shadow of my hour starts to eat into the available sunlight. Will this provide enough sunlight to support the dark foliage and abundant flowering?

probably not. Another consideration is that they leaf out late and have unattractive wood. They start out brown and are not too attractive for awhile. Not very appropriate if its for an entry way. I moved my entry ones elsewhere.

If you already have them, you could check out the coloring in the pot in the questionable location without planting it during the summer. THen decide on a permanent home in the fall.

It sounds like the Wine & Roses Weigelas do not do well in climates that receive harsh winters. (I think I read someplace that winter die back can be a problem with them if they are not protected.) Anyway, I just purchased some of these shrubs, but we usually have mild winters. My Wine & Roses Weigelas will be on the south side of my house, so they will have pleanty of protection from any winter cold and will receive full sun. I just hope they do not burn from a combination of the sun and the reflected heat from the house. Just about everything I have read says that the Wine & Roses Weigelas love lots of sun. I guess I will find out.