All gardeners dream on their site to create an eternal flowering garden, where one plant fades and another blossoms. With this selection of plants, an important role can be played by Weigela Alexandra (flowering weigela Alexandra). Such a decorative shrub will decorate any flowerbed, so the description of this variety, the features of caring for it require careful study.

Grade description

Weigela Alexandra is one of the varieties of flowering deciduous bushes of the honeysuckle family. This variety won the silver and gold medals of the garden community of Holland and America. Alexandra is most comfortable in a temperate climate.

Botanical features

Weigela Alexandra is a winter-hardy shrub that can reach a height of up to 1.2 m. The crown grows in volume to 1.5 m. Over two years of life, the bush adds up to 25 cm in length. Over time, growth dulls. At five years old, the weigel is already fully grown and almost does not change its parameters. Alexandra is a perennial compact bush with a life expectancy of up to 40 years.

Did you know? The plant owes its name to the German botanist, chemist, doctor of medical sciences K.E. Weigel. He devoted much of his scientific work to the study of fern-shaped ones.

This variety has the following features of appearance and root system:

1. It has a round shape, compact crown. The formation of the bush is due to the many produced shoots. Growing stems have a dark brown color.
2. It is characterized by intense foliage. Foliage acquires a different color before and after flowering. This gives the flower even more decorative. The sheets have a lanceolate oblong shape with a pointed apex and base. One sheet plate can reach up to 9 cm in length and 4 cm in width. The surface of the leaves is smooth, matte with small teeth along the edges. Their color varies from maroon, brown, purple to purple with beige veins. Autumn leaves turn yellow.
3. It features a mixed, not deepened, overgrown root system.
4. Alexander blooms in large funnel-shaped tubular flowers of a dark pink hue. In the buds, they are lighter, and during the flowering period they darken and resemble bright bells up to 5 cm in length. In inflorescences they are collected in several pieces. There may be single copies. The formation of inflorescences occurs in the axils of the leaves. In partial shade it blooms profusely, but with smaller flowers than in the sun.

Main characteristics

Gardeners call the Weigels rival in beauty an evergreen winter-hardy rhododendron. Alexander begins to bloom in early June and delights with his bells up to a month and a half. Last year's shoots bloom more often. If, after flowering, the tops of the stems are cut to 30–40 cm, then the bush will bloom once again in two weeks.

Important! If weigel is planted for the first time in the fall, then it will not have the strength to winter. Better to do it in the spring.

The second flowering is not as plentiful as the first. For a good development, Alexandra needs a moderate amount of moisture. In the sun, she feels fine, but she will be better in partial shade. After flowering (in September), dark gray seed bolls containing 2 seeds are formed. Each of them has special lionfish, helping them fly around the mother bush. In the spring they germinate.

The use of shrubs in landscaping

Weigela Alexandra is often used in landscape design. As soon as the first green-burgundy leaves appear in spring, the shrub already attracts with its decorative effect. The plant is used for landscaping city parks, recreation areas, decorating personal plots, gardens.

• Here are the benefits of this shrub:
• Saturated with bright shades, actively blooms.
• The color of the leaves is constantly changing.
• Crohn has a beautiful rounded shape.
• Great material for shaping haircuts and creating hedges.
• Suitable for single landing on the lawn.
• Supplements bulbous perennials in early spring (daffodils, hyacinths, tulips).
• Looks great at the entrance to the courtyard on both sides of the track.
• Suitable for mixed mixborders.
• Complementing planting from conifers, dwarf plants.
• It looks beautiful in the center of the flowerbed.
• Serves as an edging of an artificial reservoir.

Landing

Alexander has no special requirements for planting a weigel. She takes root well and is characterized by standard rules of agricultural technology. This variety can tolerate frosts down to -35 ° C.

The best time to land

In a temperate climate, Alexander is best planted in late April. The soil should warm up to + 7 ° С by this moment. It is important that the plant has taken root before the onset of cold weather. In the southern regions, you can also carry out autumn planting at the end of September.

Seat selection

The shrub does not like excess moisture, so it is better to plant it in places where there is no groundwater. Too much can lead to fungal infections. It is best to determine it in a place protected from the wind, in partial shade and on a hill.

Important! A prerequisite for planting a weigela is the absence of drafts. Winds easily hit foliage.

Soil preparation

Alexandra prefers light, fertile land with a layer of drainage. Most suitable neutral or slightly alkaline composition. Dig the site two weeks before planting, apply organic fertilizers and superphosphate. You can neutralize acidic soil with alkaline agents.

Landing process

Planting work should begin with the preparation of the soil mixture. To do this, mix the turf soil with sand and compost in equal parts. To 10 kg of such a mixture add 200 g of mineral fertilizers and 0.5 kg of ash.

Then stick to the following plan:

1. Dig a landing pit with a depth of 70 cm and a circumference of 40 × 40 cm.
2. Lay on the bottom a drainage layer of gravel, expanded clay or broken brick with a layer of 10-15 cm.
3. Then fill the prepared soil layer with 25 cm.
4. Put a seedling in the center of the hole and cover it with the rest of the earth. Make sure that the neck of the roots does not go deep into the ground, but is at its level.
5. Press the circle around the stems.
6. Add mulch from needles or sawdust.

Care

Throughout the autumn-spring period, the Alexander variety will delight you with decorative leaves and bright bell flowers, if you follow all the recommendations for care. Some gardeners even create a special calendar that reminds of one or another procedure for growing. It lists all the events for months.

Watering and feeding

Watering an adult weigela depends on the amount of rain. With sufficiently moist soil, you can not water it. In a dry season, it is necessary to pour a bucket of water under each bush 2 times a week. This is especially true for the period of bud formation and flowering. In autumn, it is important to water to strengthen immunity for the winter. Young seedlings need more water so that the earthen lump at the roots does not dry out.

Did you know? Weigels do not produce stolons, that is, non-flowering lateral shoots that serve only for vegetative propagation.

In early April, Alexander needs to be fed with potash fertilizers, urea. Two weeks later, before the leaves bloom, you can add nitroammophoska (40 g per plant). Support the flowering period with a solution of potassium sulfate (30 g) and superphosphate (30 g). You can also make liquid humic fertilizer "Living Force" (50 ml per 10 liters of water). At the end of August, water the bushes with concentrated organic solution. Young bushes up to 3 years old do not fertilize, they are enough fertilizing introduced during planting.

Loosening and mulching

The young plant forms the root system for the first three years, so it needs a light and oxygen-enriched soil. After each watering, try to loosen the root zone and remove weeds. Mulching for weigels is very important. To do this, you can use sawdust mixed with peat, chopped tree bark, crushed pine or spruce cones. Mulch helps preserve moisture in the soil, protect the roots from overheating, and reduce weed growth. In the fall, increase the layer of mulch with straw, needles.

Trimming and shaping a bush

In the second year of growth of a young bush, you can already spend the first haircut for weigela Alexandra. Do this in the early spring, before the juice begins to stand out. On the stems from the root, count two buds, remove the remaining parts. You will have a bush up to 15 cm high. Of the abandoned buds, young growth will immediately begin to grow. For greater bush density, you can repeat the procedure for the next year.Form the crown of an adult plant after flowering. To do this, remove the third part of last year's top shoots. Every 5 years, clean shrubs from old branches. Remove them in the spring near the root. Over the summer, new stems will form. Every year, the plant requires a cosmetic haircut. Remove weak, frozen, crooked and dry branches. It will be better to circulate air in a thinned bush.

Video: bush formation

Shelter for the winter

Until the weigela is stronger until the age of five, it must be sheltered for the winter.

To do this, do the following:

• spud young seedlings;
• add an additional layer of mulch from straw, hay or needles;
• tie the stems into a bunch;
• bend them to the ground and fix with a wooden slingshot;
• cover the branches with agrofiber;
• lay spruce branches on top.

Important! When Alexander’s shrub reaches five years of vegetative development, he does not need winter shelter. It is enough to water it well and make a dense layer of mulch.

Breeding methods

Weigela Alexandra is a hybrid variety, so it is difficult to breed it by seed. It may not convey all the features of the variety. It is best to propagate Alexander layering, dividends and cuttings.

Layering

Breeding in this way spend in April. To do this, find the branch, which from the whole bush is closer to the ground. The weigel stems are flexible, so bend it a little and make an incision of 7-10 cm at the bend. Treat the incision with Kornevin and activated carbon.

Insert a match into it, and dig a branch so that this cut is in the ground. Pour the layering and secure with any bracket or hairpin. Lift the top of the stem vertically and tie it to the peg. By the autumn you will receive a new young bush, but disconnect it from the mother plant only in the spring so that it does not die in the winter.

Dividing the bush

A 3-4-year-old shrub is suitable for dividing. Dig it first, gently pull it out. With a shovel, divide the roots into the required number of parts. Do not clean the earth from the roots. Plant each divide according to the scheme described above. Pour each seedling with settled water, add mulch.

Cuttings

The most suitable option for Alexandra weigela is vegetative propagation by cuttings. For planting material, choose a healthy plant that bloomed profusely.

The cuttings are carried out according to the following plan:

1. In late July - early August, cut several semi-lignified cuttings up to 20 cm long with a pair of leaves. Do the cut at an angle of 60 °.
2. Cut the top at an angle of 90 ° 1 cm above the ovary.
3. Put them in a glass with a solution of “Kornevin” or another rooting agent for a day.
4. Then deepen them by 3 cm in glasses with a substrate of peat and sand, pour.
5. Cover blanks with clear plastic cups or plastic bags for a greenhouse effect.
6. Keep the soil in the containers always moist.

After 5-6 weeks, the cuttings will take root, then you can remove the caps and take care of the cuttings as a house plant. In spring, cuttings will be ready for transplanting into the open ground.

Video: propagation by cuttings

Diseases, pests and their control

The Alexander variety is endowed with medium immunity from diseases and pests. If the soil moisture is exaggerated, the root system may become rotten. This bacterial lesion will help eliminate Topsin. In April, for prophylaxis, treat the Weigela with a solution of copper sulfate.

Due to an overabundance of inorganic fertilizers, powdery mildew in the form of plaque and brown spots may occur. Spray such a shrub with a soap-and-copper solution (100 g of soap, 10 g of copper sulfate are needed for 5 l of water). In too advanced cases, refer to the Chistosvet, Fitosporin-M preparations. Sometimes the plant is affected by rust, which indicates a fungal infection. Fight her with Bordeaux fluid.

Diseases from shrubs to shrubs can be carried by the following pests:

1. Spider mite. This is a small insect that feeds on plant sap. After its invasions, dry spots and a thin web appear on the leaves. Ticks hide on the back of the leaves, where they lay up to 150 larvae on one. Spray the infected plant with the following preparations: Keltan, Appolo, Actellik, Karbofos.
2. Smoldering. Inhibits the growth of shrubs. Use Rogor, Aktaru, Biotlin.
3. Thrips. Insect sucking juice. Over time, grayish dust appears on the plant. To help you insecticides: Topaz, Aktara, Nitroferon.
4. Caterpillars. Because of their eating around leaves, the decorative shrubs spoil. Spray Weigel 2 times with “Bitoxibacillin” at the rate of: 20 g per 5 liters of water.
5. The little bear. Large insects gnawing roots, after which the plant can die. An infusion of onion husks (500 g per 5 l of water) will help to cope with the problem. Spray directly into the ground under the root. Perform this procedure three times a week. You can replace this infusion with a solution of Karbofos.
6. Maybug Larvae. Due to their eating around the roots, the plant withers and dies. The drug "Bazudin" will help get rid of them.

To protect Weigela Alexander from pests, you can plant repellent plants near it: geranium, tansy, calendula, lavender. Insects are afraid of their smell. Decorative and high frost resistance weigela Alexandra made it popular among gardeners and designers. Shrub perfectly takes root in the central and western regions of Russia. Subject to all the rules for the care and fertilizing of the crop, you can enjoy bright flowers and leaves throughout the spring-summer period.