Abelia Sunny Charms (Abelia x grandiflora Sunny Charms)

 

Abelias should have a place in every garden, their attractive and neat glossy foliage looks great all season and they usually have a long succession of white tubular flowers with just a hint of pink.

Sunny Charms is a new variety and the very first variety with yellow flowers, like its cousins it will flower from June right through until October on a neat self branching and bushy plant that only grows to 100cm tall and wide. The trumpet shaped flowers are butter-yellow in colour with markings of pink both inside and out, and like all Abelia the calyx (the outer structure of the flower) is pink and stays on the plant long after the petals have dropped giving extra interest. This is a plant well suited to growing in smaller gardens and in a container on a sunny patio or terrace.

Abelia makes a handsome addition to flower beds and borders and they also fit well into a cottage garden look. Like other varieties, Abelia Sunny Charms could also be used for a small decorative hedge of between 50 and 80cm tall. The best time to prune Abelia is in late winter or early spring before growth begins, the flowers are produced at the ends of the branches so they need time to grow and develop in spring and early summer.

An Abelia hedge could be an informal rounded feature with its long succession of flowers with a single tidy up trim in late winter, or trimmed more frequently through the season to maintain a more formal look, this will inevitably sacrifice some of the flowers but its good looking glossy foliage more than compensates. Whether you choose Abelia Sunny Charms as a shrub or a hedge, it will make a worthy addition as an easy and trouble free plant that looks great for many months each year.

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How to grow Abelia sunny Charms

Position: Sun or partial shade, not suited to cold inland stuations where shelter will give better results, but does very well by the sea.

Foliage: Semi Evergreen, leaves persist for most of the year but many may drop in very cold spells (and re leaf the following spring)

Soil and site: Any soil except very dry

Flowering time: continuously through summer and autumn.

Growth rate: from slow/moderate 15-20cm per year.

Ultimate height and spread: smaller types around 100cm high and wide, Abelia grandiflora 250cm x 250cm.

Hardiness: Moderately hardy, best in a sunny sheltered spot.

Aftercare: Water regularly after planting and through the first season until established. Prune or trim in late winter/early spring.

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