Plant Preview


Welcome to Plant Preview, a blog dedicated to helping gardeners learn about gardening techniques and preview new plant cultivars. Read about new plants here first and hear how your "comrades in compost" are making use of new plant introductions in their gardens and landscapes. Blog author Geri Laufer is a life-long dirt gardener, degreed horticulturist, author and former County Extension Agent. Plant Preview is copyrighted by Geri Laufer.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Twist of Lime™ Variegated Abelia Dances through the Landscape

      A new introduction by Garden Debut, Twist of Lime™ Variegated Abelia is a high-accent, low maintenance selection for the border or large containers. An outstanding choice, this pretty summer cooler is a compact, evergreen shrub with glossy variegated leaves that bring added value to the garden. the leaves are bright yellow with green centers when young, maturing later in the season to a rich ivory and green. 
      Another plus, Twist of Lime™ Abelia produces a heavy bloom of fragrant white-tinged-pink clusters of trumpet-shaped flowers (to 5/8 inch long) which appear over a long and continuous period from late spring to fall and are attractive to pollinators and hummingbirds. Dusty pink “ruffs” of sepals last even longer, after the petals are gone.
     Twist of Lime's botanical name is Abelia x grandiflora ‘Gretol’. It has no serious insect or disease problems and is useful as a specimen or grouped in shrub borders or foundations. It is also effective when massed as a shrubby ground cover, particularly on slopes or banks where plants also can provide erosion control. Twist of Lime™ Abelia may be used as a low, informal hedge in southern areas where winter die-back is not a concern, although plants lose their attractive graceful shape if pruned or sheared. Twist of Lime™ is also a creative choice for permanent containers on terraces and balconies. 
Look for this new Abelia in garden centers this spring in the Garden Debut pot.   

3 comments:

  1. it looks nice.. but doesn't seem to be any greener or limeish in color than a eunonymus...
    is it just the computer playing with the color?

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  2. Thanks, Anonymous! Consider: Abelia is much more graceful than Euonymous and is not attacked by spider mites like Euonymous, so it serves a different role in the garden.

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  3. I deadheaded my twist of abelia to the ground in early March....will it grow back??

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