Height: 1.0 m (3 feet)
Spread: 1.0 m (3 feet)
Bloom: deep rosy pink, funnel shaped
Exposure: full sun
Foliage: brownish purple

Pluses: long bloom, foliage colour, no pests

Weigela are an old-fashioned plant but newer varieties are showing up every year. ‘Wine and Roses’ is a medium-sized cultivar, reaching about three feet in height, with dark burgundy/brown purple foliage and deep rosy pink flowers in early summer.

Wine and Roses works well as an accent plant or in mass plantings. It tolerates a variety of soils and is drought tolerant once established. Foliage on old stems tends to dull quickly so prune old canes after the first flush of blooms to encourage brighter foliage growth. Weigela are also very attractive to hummingbirds and butterflies.

Weigela Wine and Roses is in full bloom in my Zone 5 Southern Ontario garden in early June. It is a very prolific bloomer, I have never seen a year where the blooms did not completely cover the branches. Weigela blooms on both old growth and new growth from “old stems” so it will sporatically rebloom throughout the summer. New stems that grow from the base will not bloom until next year.

Foliage colour is best in full sun although foliage does tend to fade through the summer. I prune about 1/5th of the older canes to the ground immediately after the first flush of flowers to encourage some newer growth with richer foliage colour. I also cut back some of the taller canes. These will branch and produce new foliage as well as new flowers late in summer.

Garden Location: I have several Wine and Roses throughout my garden with the oldest being in the Kitchen Patio Garden and East Burm Garden. They are a useful shrub for maroon colour foliage and are reliable bloomers. I have found older plants do look tired so a severe pruning every 5 years or so is recommended, even if that means foregoing blooms for one year.