"Those outdoors die back in winter, but I'm wondering, if they're kept in a warm house, will they stay green during winter months? Do you know if they're deciduous/evergreen in warmer climates?" I was going to overwinter it this year but it stayed out in direct sun too long, turned sort of... orange and got a bit dry and while it had fronds, it looked terrible so I figured I'd just let it die back. One think I'm wondering is if they're overwintered, or kept potbound enough, if "trunk" formation will speed up/be induced more. I'm thinking if the plants can't spread out, they'll try growing upwards more. No ideas. As I said, though, I have more than enough of these so if I kill one, I'm probably going to be hacking a bunch out of the ground anyway, so I'll just pot those. They don't like being dry though, I've noticed. We had a draught last year in Ohio, and lots of heat, so the ones outside died back massively, and the potted one needed to pretty much be in standing water to prevent it from throwing a fit. Then chipmunks bit through some of the fronds (and ate my tulips). Anyway, I'm thinking cooler indoor temps and a lack of... predatory species might help out if growing them indoors -- on the other hand, humidity is a real concern. But, I'm gonna say this is for science and go ahead with it.

Yes, it certainly looks like an Abelia, but then Kolkwitzia is very closely related to Abelia. I have an abelia, and, although it is a variegated form, the leaves, although also opposite on the stem, are slightly different in shape to the those in the picture. I therefore favour Kokwitzia.

Donna, We ripped out our entire back yard in 2004 and started from scratch. We only had two trees in the backyard, but our neighbors have lots of trees and they planted them within 5 ft of our fence line in most cases. On the north side of our small 1/4 acre property, the neighbor planted 7 Spruce trees all very close to each other in addition to a huge Sycamore Tree that is about 10ft from the fence line. On the West Side there are 4 Silver Maples. On the Southwest corner the neighbor has a 60yr old Silver Maple Tree within 8ft of our fence. So you can imagine the time I've had trying to find plants that will survive in dry shade with that much root competition. I have thought that I was watering a lot in past seasons, but this year, we had a lot of rain and I noticed many plants that have done better and put on more growth than in previous years. So I must conclude that the trees normally are just sucking the moisture out of the soil. My Kolkwitzia is in the dripline on the north side of a maple tree, but, it's been there for over 30 years and I don't know how much shade and root competition it had when it was getting established. I think if you are getting 4 hrs of sun in the afternoon, that should be enough to get moderate bloom. As much as the bloom in my photo, because I don't get more than that. If you want full bloom like the first photo on this thread, I think you would need more sun than that. I've never had that much bloom. I wonder if the dry conditions with root competition from the trees, might be causing the shrub to establish slower? You could move it, but if you have the patience, I might try it where it is one more year and consistently give it more water every week and early next spring, maybe a fertilizer. I tried working alfalfa pellets in a circle around the base of my roses this spring and again after the first flush of bloom and wow what a difference that made. Next year, I want to do that to a lot more shrubs in the yard. [g] I'm no expert on shrubs believe me, I just thought my experiences might be helpful. People over on the Shrub forum are always helpful too.

You know what? Now that you mention it, I do think my Fort roses are more susceptible to chili thrips. I NEVER had them in my garden until I went to Tampa one year and visited hardin's nursery where I brought back 6 roses all on fortuniana. That year I had my first chili thrip outbreak. (Also my first spider mite outbreak). But the chili thrips were so much worse. They seemed to disappear as quickly as they came (although months later) I'm certain it was the weather. Either it got too hot or too cold. Anyways every year now they return. Usually in late spring. This year they have been doing a ton of damage again, but some recent heavy rains and sudden cooler weather has slowed them down a bit. I just purchased a bottle of pesticide containing spinosad. Supposedly the only thing that kills them. Luckily it's an organic pesticide that does not harm beneficial insects (or so they say). I have not sprayed them yet because I've seen them decreasing (and by this I mean, the new growth on my roses is not deformed). So I'm saving it until I see another infestation. Then I'll pull out the big guns. Of all my roses, my fortuniana ones really are the ones who got the most damage. But, some of my dr Huey and own roots did too. I have 2 moonstones and both got it. One on Ft one on doc. Meanwhile my delbards (papi Delbard and dames de chennonceau) were not affected. Neither was europeana. Déjà blue was (own root), queen of Sweden was too (doc). As was Eden (o.r.). But most of my potted Huey's got little to non. My Austin's did not get them at all except for queen of Sweden. My org types didn't either. Nor my earth kind (duchess de Brabant, Belinda's dream, Cecile Bruner). None on knockout or easy does it, nor any of my many drifts got them either. They simply devoured two young tree roses on dr Huey. Not sure if Fortuniana roses are particularly prone to them, but I do think the nurseries that grow fort roses sold us infested plants. And like all thrips, they seem to like some varieties more than others. Chili thrip damage on young tree rose (Orlando) on dr. Huey