It’s Favorite Shrub time again so the anti-shrub among you can just click off to somewhere else (you know who you are, Amy. Some of us have a lot of garden to fill.)
Next up is the Kolkwitzia amabalis or beautybush (not to be confused with beautyberry). I admit it’s wild and scruffy-looking enough to be mistaken for honeysuckle shrub - not a flattering comparison - but I love it for its old-fashioned good looks and other qualifies, like:
It grows really fast, up to 15′ x 10′, but can fit into a smaller space by pruning or, as I’ve done here, by tying it up to a wall or fence. That’s a bit of cheating I indulge in lots cuz I hate to see plants crowding each other or lying on the ground. But scraggly or not, wouldn’t you rather see it than the toolshed? It’s shown here at its mid-spring peak, of course, because I’m a show-off kind of gardener. Heather in Houston nailed me on that score all right.
Finally, because I’m also a naturegirl, I admire the beautybush because it’s a perfect nesting shrub for my wild birds (feed ‘em enough and you start thinking they’re yours, not Nature’s). So I recommend this shrub from China as a wildlife-friendly plant, despite the fact that it’s one of those exotics, nonnatives, immigrants - pick a word. See, nobody ever wants to tell you about the good nonnatives, but I will. Gardeners need as many choices as we can get, dammit.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Carol 06.20.06 at 10:38 pm
I think it is great if you have the room to plant a nice large shrub and this is a good choice. It’s a wonder that any garden centers still carry big shrubs like this!
Heavy Petal 06.23.06 at 12:33 am
Hey Susan. I second that — I love beautybush. It grew on the property line just outside our kitchen window when I was a child and always made the task of washing dishes a teensy bit more enjoyable!
Michele Owens 06.29.06 at 9:36 am
Stunning! You are definitely THE source for great-looking white flowered shrubs. Does it need full sun? I want to replace an annoying holly that’s in part shade. Would it work?
Takoma Gardener 06.29.06 at 7:05 pm
Michele, my sources at Google are telling me this needs full sun or light shade to do its best. In this situation it gets about 4 hours a day and seems happy enough.
More importantly, I’m glad to see you have an open mind toward large white-flowering shurbs despite your quirky but persistent anti-spirea stance.