Abelia plants are a popular choice for home landscapes and gardens. With their attractive foliage, long blooming periods, and relatively low maintenance needs, it’s easy to see why they have become so beloved by gardeners. However, with over 30 different abelia species and countless cultivars to choose from, it can be tricky to select the right one for your specific needs. In this article, we’ll explore the key factors to consider when choosing an abelia plant, so you can make sure you pick the perfect size and variety for your space.
Take Stock of Your Landscape
Before deciding on an abelia, take a good look at your existing landscape and how much room you have to work with. Small urban yards with limited space will do best with a dwarf abelia that matures at 1 to 3 feet tall and wide Those with medium yards can opt for a mid-sized abelia in the 3 to 6 foot range Homeowners with larger properties can go bold with a full-size abelia reaching 6 to 10 feet tall at maturity.
Take into account not just the square footage of your yard, but the vertical space available. An abelia planted along a low fence line or walkway should stay low enough not to obstruct views. Meanwhile, an abelia used as a focal point or planned for the back of a garden border can grow taller to make an impact.
Match the Scale
When choosing plants, it’s important to consider their scale in relation to your home and landscape. A tiny 2-foot dwarf abelia might look lost and undersized if planted alone as a focal point in front of a large, two-story home.
On the other hand, an oversized 8-foot variety could dwarf a small cottage. Try to choose an abelia whose height at maturity will be proportionate to your home’s size and your overall landscape. A properly scaled abelia will balance out the space beautifully.
Mind the Spread
While height is important, don’t forget to account for the abelia’s spread (width) as well. Give your abelia enough room to reach its maximum spread without being cramped. Abelias typically spread nearly as wide as they grow tall. Spacing them too close together creates competition and legginess as they fight for light.
When planting abelias for hedging, space them according to their expected mature spread. This will create a lush, full hedge instead of gaps as they grow For specimen plants, allow enough room to enjoy their graceful arching form without encroaching on lawn or bed space
Factor in Purpose
Consider what role you want your abelia to play before picking the variety. Do you need a focal point? Low hedge? Screening? Foundation planting? Narrowing your purpose will help determine the ideal size. Dwarf abelias are great for edging, small hedges, and detail areas. Mid-size varieties allow for fuller hedging, mass plantings, foundation plants and border backdrops. Larger abelias make stunning specimen plants and screening.
Climate Considerations
When selecting your abelia variety, pay attention to its preferred climate zone and make sure it’s suited for your region. Certain species like glossy abelia (Abelia x grandiflora) have a wide climate tolerance spanning zones 4-9.
Others like Abelia mosanensis ‘Edward Goucher’ prefer warmer zones 7-9. Choosing a variety that thrives in your climate will give you the healthiest, most vigorous abelia possible. Check plant tags or descriptions for zone specifics before purchasing.
Foliage and Flower Power
While we mainly think of abelia for its blooms, the foliage deserves consideration too when choosing a variety. Look for types offering more than plain old green leaves to up the visual interest. Variegated, golden, or burgundy-tinted foliage provides multi-season color and texture. The extra pop of color pairs beautifully with the dainty sprays of bell-shaped abelia flowers.
If possible, see foliage and blooms in person at your local nursery before purchasing. Pictures alone don’t always convey the true color. And don’t be afraid to go for something bold and different than the common green-leaf abelias.
Check the Tags
When you’ve narrowed down the field to a few potential abelia varieties, carefully read the plant tags and descriptions before making your final pick. Pay special attention to details like:
- Mature height and width
- Bloom time
- Sun/shade tolerance
- Any noteworthy or unique features
This will confirm the plant suits your site conditions and meets your specific size needs. The tag may also provide tips on ideal spacing for that variety.
Trust Your Judgment
Even with all this guidance, choosing the perfect abelia is partly an exercise of the eye and instinct. Rely on your personal sense of style, color, and symmetry as you evaluate options. Select a variety that speaks to you and fits your vision for your landscape.
Have confidence in choosing an abelia that brings you joy – after all, you’re the one who will enjoy its beauty year after year. Just be sure to double check all cultural requirements will be met before planting.
When thoughtfully chosen and properly sited, the right abelia plant can beautify your landscape for years to come. By taking stock of your space, needs and preferences, you can find an abelia that not only fits in terms of size – but feels like it was custom picked just for you. With so many fantastic abelia varieties to explore, you’re sure to discover one that suits your yard perfectly.
Piedmont Master Gardeners • Sharing knowledge, Empowering communities PMG News
- By Susan Martin
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- October 2018 – Vol.4 No.10
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Glossy abelia (Abelia x grandiflora) is often described as a tough plant. In fact, Carol Robacker, one of the horticulturalists involved with the abelia breeding program at University of Georgia, described abelia this way: “Around here, we call abelia the gas station plant. You could plant it beside a gas station surrounded by asphalt and forget about it, and it would still survive and thrive.”
But abelia is not just tough, it’s also beautiful. It adds colorful, fragrant blossoms when most other flowering shrubs have succumbed to summer heat, or to summer dry spells, or have just plain tuckered out.
Abelia, a formerly recognized genus that contained about 30 species and hybrids, was placed in the honeysuckle family, Caprifoliaceae, in 2013. These deciduous and evergreen shrubs are native to eastern Asia (Japan west to the Himalayas) and southern North America (Mexico). The genus name honors Dr. Clarke Abel (1780-1826), physician and naturalist, who collected seed and plants as part of a British expedition to China in 1817. All of Abel’s seeds and plants, however, were lost in a shipwreck on the homeward voyage. Living plants of Abelia chinensis (now Linnaea chinensis) were first imported to England in 1844 by Robert Fortune.
A recent study by Kew Gardens separated the 30 species of Abelia into four genera. New cultivars, especially from the very popular Abelia x grandiflora (glossy abelia), have proliferated, with over 30 mentioned in the literature. A. x grandiflora is a cross between A. chinensis (Chinese abelia) and A. uniflora.
Glossy abelia is a multi-stemmed shrub which features clusters of white, bell-shaped flowers (to 3/4″ long) with a persistent, reddish calyx which gives the flowers a pinkish tinge. Flowers are fragrant and offer a continuous bloom from early summer to fall. Ovate, glossy, opposite, dark green leaves are pinkish when new and turn purplish-bronze in autumn. The bark is exfoliating. A. x grandiflora prefers an acidic, moist, well-drained site but tolerates clay, damp, or dry soil. A thin layer of mulch is recommended so that the soil can drain. The shrub is generally cold-hardy to about 0ºF., although some varieties are more or less tolerant of extreme cold. It grows in Zones 6-9, but it reaches a larger size when grown in warmer climates. In Zones 5-6, stems can die back to the ground in winter. It is evergreen, semi-deciduous, or deciduous, depending on the hardiness zone.
On average, the shrub grows 3-6’ tall and wide. Cultivars offer a range of sizes, including dwarf shrubs suitable for containers. Its arching habit does best when left unpruned. However, if you prefer a tidier look, prune in late winter/early spring because A. x grandiflora blooms on new wood. It can also survive severe pruning if that becomes necessary. Plants occasionally produce tall, vigorous shoots that are typical of the species and not the cultivar (genetic reversion to the parental characteristic). These vigorous shoots should be removed to the base.
ABELIA CULTIVARS
There are many cultivars offering different shrub sizes, flower color, and foliage color that changes from summer through fall. The cultivars are heat and drought resistant. Although they flower best in full sun, they also tolerate partial shade.
Examples of A. x grandiflora Cultivars:
- ‘Rose Creek’ has evergreen leaves that look pinkish when new but turn purplish through late summer. Clusters of fragrant, white tubular-shaped flowers are produced from May through frost. Below each flower is a light pink calyx that imparts color even after the flowers fade. The plant grows into a mounded shape 2-3’ tall and at least 3’ wide with reddish stems. It is an excellent choice for shrub borders and foundation plantings. ‘Rose Creek’ was developed by Michael A. Dirr, University of Georgia.
- ‘Canyon Creek’ is a taller 4-6’ variety with coppery-pink leaves that turn yellow and then green. Light pink flowers bloom throughout the growing season. The shrub is semi-evergreen to deciduous in zone 7. Also developed by Dirr.
- ‘Little Richard’ is a compact plant growing to 3’ tall and wide with abundant small white flowers. New foliage is bright red, then turns a glossy vivid green in summer, and tangerine-pink in fall.
- ‘Kaleidoscope’ was discovered in 1997 as a variegated branch sport of A. x grandiflora ‘Little Richard’. ‘Kaleidoscope’ is a dense, semi-evergreen, compact shrub with reddish purple stems. New foliage emerges as green and yellow; turns gold in summer; and then fiery-red-to-orange in fall. Its pink buds open into white fragrant flowers that persist into fall. ‘Kaleidoscope’ grows 2-2.5’ tall and 3-4’ wide. Its smaller size makes it suitable for growing in patio containers, or massed on slopes for attractive shrubby cover and erosion control.
A Sampling of Other Cultivars:
- ‘Edward Goucher’ was introduced in 1911 by Edward Goucher of the United States Department of Agriculture. A cross between A. x grandiflora and shumannii, the shrub typically grows to 2-3′ tall in colder zones and to 5’ tall in Zones 8-9. It is less cold hardy than glossy abelia and does best in Zones 6a and warmer. Clusters of lavender-pink, funnel-shaped flowers (to 3/4″ long) with orangish-yellow throats bloom from mid-summer into fall. Ovate, glossy, dark green leaves turn purplish-bronze in autumn.
- ‘Raspberry Profusion’, a seedling selection of ‘Edward Goucher’ x chinensis, blooms heavily from May to September. The entire plant is covered with big clusters of strongly-scented, pink flowers with flamboyant raspberry sepals. The sepals remain after the flowers drop, extending the color until the end of autumn. The shrub is robust and compact, growing to 3-4’ tall and wide. It is mostly deciduous in the winter. Developed by Carol Robacker, University of Georgia.
- ‘Lavender Mist’ is also a seedling selection of ‘Edward Goucher’ x chinensis. It’s a heavy bloomer, with clusters of fragrant lavender flowers beginning in mid-June and continuing into autumn. Sepals are a straw-green color at the base, becoming rose at the tips. Summer foliage is gray-green. It grows 3-4’ tall and wide. It is mostly deciduous in the winter. Developed by Carol Robacker and Sloane M. Schreiber, University of Georgia. Abelia mosanensis, fragrant or Korean abelia, is an evergreen or semi-evergreen hybrid species that reaches a height of 4-6’ or more, has especially fragrant flowers, and a shorter bloom period (May to June). Its bright green, ovate leaves often have a bronze or reddish tint when emerging. The flower buds are rich reddish-pink and open to white funnel-form flowers. The obovate sepals often have an attractive pink tint and persist long after the flowers fall. Note: This shrub flowers on old wood, so prune right after flowering.
POLLINATORS
Abelia attracts hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees.
PEST AND DISEASE PROBLEMS
Abelia exhibits no serious pest or disease problems, and is very resistant to deer. It also tolerates air pollution.
OTHER POSITIVES
The Georgia Exotic Pest Plant Council (GA-EPPC) recommends Abelia x grandiflora and glossy abelia cultivars as alternatives to non-native shrubs that are invasive. (The GA-EPPC cautions that invasiveness could become a factor at some point in the future for any of the recommended alternative plants.) This GA-EPPC site provides lists of non-native invasives; non-native alternatives; and native alternatives. There are lists for trees, shrubs, vines, groundcovers, ornamental grasses, and herbaceous perennials.
Abelia x grandiflora is also included on a list of drought-tolerant shrubs compiled by Clemson University Extension in August, 2016.
HOW TO USE ABELIAS
Because of their compact shape, abelias are often used as foundation plants. The taller varieties are used for borders or hedges. The dwarf varieties are suitable for containers or massed on slopes for attractive shrubby cover and erosion control. Abelias’ hardiness and adaptability make them a popular choice for commercial landscapes and for demanding environments such as parking lots.
If you are looking for a shrub that will keep blooming through the end of summer when most other plants have waved the white flag, consider the abelia. Though not native, it does not exhibit invasive properties. It is deer, pest, and disease resistant. It attracts many different pollinators. It offers a variety of colorful blooms and foliage that evolves in color as the season progresses. Who wouldn’t make space in their garden for such an undemanding, rewarding bloomer?
Abelia, NC State Extension, https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/all/abelia-x-grandiflora/
“Suggested Alternatives to Non-native Invasive Plants,” Georgia Exotic Pest Plant Council, https://www.gaeppc.org/alternatives/
“Plants That Tolerate Drought,” Clemson University Extension, https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/plants-that-tolerate-drought/
Glossy Abelia, Abelia x grandiflora, Virginia Cooperative Extension, https://pubs.ext.vt.edu/3010/3010-1488/3010-1488.html
Abelia x grandiflora, http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=j150
“Two New Abelias: Beautiful and Deer Resistant,” Moya Andrews, Indiana public media, https://indianapublicmedia.org/focusonflowers/two-new-abelias/
“The Sweet Smell of Spring: Abelia Mosanesis,” Nancy Rose, Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, http://arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu/pdf/articles/2013-70-4-the-sweet-smell-of-spring-abelia-mosanensis.pdf
Abelia x grandiflora ‘Kaleidoscope,’ http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=359785&isprofile=1&gen=abelia
“New Varieties Provide a Host of Bloom Colors, Plant Sizes,” University of Georgia, https://www.griffin.uga.edu/news/new-varieties-provide-host-bloom-colors-plant-sizes
‘Raspberry Profusion’ and ‘Lavender Mist’: “New Abelia Cultivars for the Landscape,” HortScience, http://hortsci.ashspublications.org/content/41/4/1020.4.abstract
“Abelia: A plant made for Georgia summer, Daily Citizen-News, http://www.dailycitizen.news/news/lifestyles/abelia-a-plant-made-for-georgia-summer/article_229d2687-8db6-555a-8e36-8be1b4921ce6.html
Dirr’s Encyclopedia of Trees and Shrubs (Dirr, Michael, 2011)
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FAQ
Where is the best place to plant abelia?
Can you keep abelia small?
Does abelia like sun or shade?
Can Abelia be grown in full sun?
Abelia can be grown in both full sun and partial shade. However, planting them in an area with full sun will encourage more vibrant foliage colors and a healthy bloom. Plants grown in areas with intense summer heat will benefit from some afternoon shade.
Is Abelia a good addition to your garden?
If you find joy in the intricacies of caring for vegetation in your own patch of the great outdoors, abelia is a delightful addition for your garden, no matter the size. Gardening enthusiasts and plant lovers know that tending to a garden is not only an act of connection with nature but also a labor of love.
Should I plant abelias in my yard?
If you’re looking for flowering shrubs for your southern landscape, you should consider planting abelias in your yard.
Is Abelia a good shrub?
This shrub has long been a charmer in Southern gardens. Abelia ( Abelia) is a Southern-favorite plant that belongs to the family Caprifoliaceae. It’s a graceful shrub with small, delicate blooms and has long been reliable for borders and shrub plantings. It is also an excellent choice for foundation plantings and hedges if tended to appropriately.