Content
Weigela of the Honeysuckle family is named after the German botanist Weigel. This beautifully flowering shrub came to Europe from Southeast Asia, where more than one and a half dozen species of this shrub grow. In Russia, weigela is found wild in the Far East. No more than 10 species of shrubs are cultivated in gardens and parks. Weigela Minor Black is one of the most beautiful representatives of the family.
Description of Weigela Minor Black
A dwarf deciduous shrub reaches a height of no more than a meter. Its shoots are mostly vertical. A dense, lush crown is formed from spiky leaves of varying colors. The crown diameter of an adult weigela Minor Black shrub usually does not exceed 1 m.
The color range of leaves ranges from red to dark purple. Some leaf blades become almost black over time. The shrub is also notable for its flowering. Bright or dark pink flowers cover the crown of the weigela, turning it into a garden decoration.Narrow five-petaled bells are collected in inflorescences of several pieces.
How Weigela Minor Black blooms
The main reason why weigela Black Minor has become popular among gardeners is that the shrub blooms twice a year. The first time the shrub is covered with flowers profusely is in June – July. These are last year's shoots blooming. This fascinating process lasts up to four weeks.
It is noteworthy that Weigela Minor Black flowers can change color over time. The pale pink bells become brighter and darker over time. Flowering ends with the formation of fruit boxes with seeds inside.
The second flowering of the season is provided by young shoots. And, despite the fact that this picture is not as bright as the first, the plant covered with delicate flowers in September at least looks exotic against the backdrop of fading vegetation.
Application in landscape design
Low-growing flowering weigela Minor Black is used as a link between tall plantings and low annuals when creating various garden compositions.
Weigela is used as an independent garden decoration or in combination with other varieties and types of garden plants.
Options for using weigela Minor Black in landscape design are shown in detail in the photo.
Weigela perfectly complements group plantings of green plants. An unpretentious plant can coexist with juniper or thuja. Weigela is often used to give shape to an alpine slide. Bright foliage and lush flowering of the shrub can be used to add volume to the flowerbed against the backdrop of stones.
The hybrid dwarf weigela Minor Black is also suitable as a tub culture. But usually shrubs are grown in flowerpots only up to three years of age.Then the plant is transplanted to a suitable place in the garden.
Reproduction methods
Weigela Minor Black is propagated by cuttings and seeds. The planting material for cuttings is cut in the spring before flower buds form. Young branches with green bark are cut with a sharp tool at an angle of 90 degrees. The length of the workpiece should be no more than 15 cm.
The cuttings must be treated with a root formation enhancer and left at room temperature for 12 - 14 hours.
The cuttings are planted in a loose mixture of sand and peat, so that the seedling is covered with 1 cm of soil.
It is necessary to regularly water future seedlings so that the soil is constantly moist. Root formation works better if you make a film cap or a mini greenhouse for the cuttings. Be sure to ventilate the seedlings so that condensation on the walls of the shelter does not lead to rotting of the plants.
Experienced gardeners advise planting cuttings in separate containers. The bushes need to be grown before planting in a permanent place for one and a half to two years. In order for the future seedling to be sufficiently developed and lush, the top of the cutting after the formation of roots is shortened by a third.
The roots of the cuttings form no earlier than after a month and a half.
The plant is easy to propagate by seeds. But it should be noted that Minor Black is a hybrid variety. Therefore, the varietal qualities of plants grown from seeds may differ from the parent variety.
Seeds are collected in late autumn. Germination does not require soaking or treatment with stimulants. Seeds are sown in dry sand and watered until shoots emerge. High-quality seed material, subject to humidity and temperature conditions, usually germinates no later than a month.
Weigela Minor Black reproduces well by self-sowing.The gardener can only replant the grown seedlings in the spring, choosing the most developed plants.
You can also propagate shrubs in the garden using layering. To obtain a seedling in the fall, dig in the lowest branch from the mother bush, after removing all the foliage except the top one. A healthy seedling will be ready by spring. It is separated and transplanted into a tub for growing.
Planting and caring for weigela Minor Black
When purchasing a weigela seedling, you should pay attention to the age of the plant. The most suitable bushes for planting in the garden are three-year-old bushes. Weigela blooming Minor Black is difficult to transplant to a new place. Younger seedlings rarely take root or suffer for a long time.
Recommended timing
The shrub should be planted in a permanent place in open ground in the spring. Frost resistance of Weigela Minor Black is very low. Seedlings take a long time to adapt to a new place. When planted in autumn, the plant does not have time to become strong enough and may die in winter. In case of late acquisition of weigela, it is better to bury the seedling in the garden, sprinkling the crown halfway with loose soil. In this state, the young plant can safely overwinter.
Site selection and soil preparation
To grow weigela Minor Black, you need to choose a place illuminated by the sun most of the day. With a lack of light, the branches of the plant quickly become woody. This bush almost never blooms.
A shrub with fragile branches and delicate flowers suffers greatly from the wind. Therefore, the place for planting weigela should be protected from drafts.
The soil for flowering weigela Minor Black needs alkaline or neutral. Be sure to make a drainage layer to avoid stagnation of moisture and acidification of the soil. The composition of the soil must be saturated with nutritional components.
Weigela develops and blooms well, growing on loose soils. Therefore, when planting, it is advisable to add perlite, polystyrene foam or any other fine-grained drainage mixture to the soil. The soil should consist of sand and turf soil in equal proportions. For nutritional value, add some compost or well-rotted manure.
How to plant correctly
Weigela Minor Black bushes are planted at a distance of about a meter from each other and from neighboring bushes. If the plant is located near buildings, then you need to retreat 1.5 - 2 m to ensure access to it from all sides.
The hole for planting weigela Minor Black should be about 50 cm deep. The grown weigela has a fairly large root system. It is recommended to make the planting hole in the shape of a square with a side of 50 - 60 cm. Sequence of actions:
- Lay drainage at the bottom with a layer of about 15 - 20 cm of broken tiles, large pebbles or other coarse mixture.
- Add nitroammophoska and humus to the prepared soil mixture if the soil is not fertile enough.
- Place the seedling vertically.
- The soil should be poured evenly around the rhizome, lightly compacted.
- Water generously.
- Mulch the tree trunk with sawdust, peat or compost.
When planting weigela Minor Black, you need to pay attention to the location of the root collar. It is important that it is not below the soil level.
Growing rules
Caring for Weigela Minor Black is not difficult. The main thing is that the soil is always loose and sufficiently moist.
Watering
The bushes need to be watered regularly.At the same time, it is important to ensure that moisture does not stagnate in the tree trunk circle. An adult bush requires up to 10 - 15 liters of water. During the dry summer period, watering is carried out more often.
Top dressing
Blooming weigela Minor Black is demanding on soil fertility. But, if the plant is overfed, or fertilizers are applied incorrectly, then flowering may not occur.
The first feeding is carried out in early spring. Sometimes fertilizers are applied before the snow cover melts. But experts consider this method ineffective. Together with melt water, the fertilizer will be dispersed throughout the area. For Weigela, such feeding is not enough to wake up and nourish.
You can feed the fertilizer in the spring with dry preparations, which need to be poured into the trunk circle of each bush. An adult plant requires approximately 50 g of a mixture of urea, superphosphate and potassium salt in a 2:2:1 ratio.
The next feeding should help the bush form flower buds. This requires about 50 g of superphosphate and potassium sulfate in equal parts per bush. It is better to fertilize with a liquid nutrient solution at the root.
To prepare weigela for frost, the last fertilization of the season is carried out. You can use complex potassium preparations. Some gardeners add wood ash at the rate of 1 cup per 1 sq.m when digging the area around the bush.
Loosening, mulching
Weigela develops well and blooms luxuriantly, growing in loose soil. After watering, it is necessary to loosen the tree trunk circle each time to a depth of 10 cm.
In order not to waste time and effort on maintaining the looseness of the area for weigela, you can mulch the tree trunk circle after watering with a thick layer. Mulch is prepared from a mixture of sawdust, compost and peat. The layer can be up to 10 cm.
Pruning, crown formation
The main work for caring for weigela Minor Black consists of regular pruning of the bush to form the crown and maintain the health of the plant.
Pruning is done after flowering. It is necessary to remove old branches and shorten young shoots by half to give the bush the correct shape. Repeated pruning during normal plant development is required no more often than after 2-3 years.
Sanitary pruning of weigela is carried out in the spring. In this case, dry and damaged branches are completely removed.
It is imperative to treat the cuts on the branches with garden varnish or resin. Weigela is susceptible to fungal diseases, the pathogens of which can penetrate through cuts and wounds on wood.
Preparing for winter
The main problem when growing weigela Minor Black in open ground is its strong sensitivity to cold. The plant must be covered for the winter. Due to the low winter hardiness of Weigela Minor Black, the crop is not recommended for planting in the northern regions.
Before the onset of frost, the tree trunk circle is covered with a thick layer of compost. The branches of the plant must be carefully tied together with twine or wire. Then wrap it in kraft paper, agrospan or other insulating material.
Rodents pose a danger to the plant in winter. To protect the bush from mice, it is necessary to compact the snow in the tree trunk circle. You can water the space around the weigela with water. Then mice will not be able to reach the plant through the layer of ice.
In early spring, it is imperative to shake off heavy wet snow from the weigela’s shelter.Its fragile branches easily break under the weight of the snow mass.
Pests and diseases
Early falling of leaves, spots and a light coating on the plates of weigela Minor Black signal that the weigela is infected with gray rot, rust or spotting.
Bordeaux mixture is used to combat fungus. The drug is diluted according to the instructions and sprayed on the leaves.
If the weigela is affected by root cancer, then you will have to part with the bush. This disease spreads quickly and can affect any plants in the garden. In order not to risk the health of your pets, the diseased plant must be urgently dug up and burned.
Thrips, aphids and spider mites often infest Weigela Minor Black bushes. To combat them, you can use any insecticides that are sold to protect against leaf-eating insects.
Conclusion
Weigela Minor Black looks impressive in any garden combination. Gardeners say that the only difficulty in caring for shrubs is proper preparation for winter. Weigela will thank you for your efforts with lush double flowering.
