Weigela florida Princess Ayla

Weigela florida Princess Ayla is a compact new variety with beautifully coloured foliage that is sun-resistant and has generous flowering. Its young leaves are a very bright lime-yellow and turn light green tinged with purple, creating a superb colour combination well into the season. Its flowering is both abundant and delightful, with tubular flowers in a lovely fresh pink that fade to white-pink. This festive shrub will bring a lot of cheer to a rustic or romantic flower bed and will liven up the terrace or balcony for a good part of the year.

Native to northern China, Japan, and Korea, Weigela florida is a deciduous shrub belonging to the Caprifoliaceae family. This calcicolous shrub (preferring limestone soils) has a fibrous and trailing root system, which is perfectly suited for transplantation. The 'Princess Ayla' cultivar was recently selected in the United Kingdom by Ken Rigney. The shrub has an erect, rounded, and dense habit, and forms a ramified bush that will not exceed an average of 1.25 m (4 ft). Its foliage changes colour throughout the seasons, but remains attractive from spring to autumn and does not burn in the sun. It is composed of sessile leaves, meaning without petioles and directly attached to the branches, pubescent on the underside, and of an oval to elliptical shape. Their colour ranges from bright yellow-green to light green with a purple-brown tint. Its funnel-shaped flowers have an intermediate colour between pink and violet, similar to that of the wild species. They are borne in corymbs, at the ends of the previous year's and current year's branches, and bloom abundantly from May to June. Summer flowering is more sporadic and irregular, depending on the climate. It is also highly attractive to bees and nectar-loving insects.

Hardy down to -20 °C (-4 °F), the 'Princess Ayla' Weigelia will thrive in many regions, in sunny or semi-shady locations, in ordinary soil, remaining moist but well-drained. This variety, as attractive for its foliage as for its small size, brings a lot of whimsy to the garden as well as to the terrace. In a flower bed, for example, give it companions such as Physocarpus, pheasant trees (Leycesteria formosa), ornamental brambles, a small viburnum chosen for its autumn colours (Viburnum 'Bailey Compact'), or a Purple Dwarf Barberry. In the background, the very dark foliage of holly, mahonia, or yew will form a dark setting for its colourful foliage and provide winter decoration.