Characteristics
| Hardiness zone | 6a |
|---|---|
| Flower color | white |
| Foliage type | evergreen |
| Plant form | mounded |
| Mature height | 6 feet |
| Spread | 5 feet |
| Light requirements | full sun to partial shade |
| Moisture requirements | average to moist |
| Plant origin | hybrid |
Glossy Abelia
Botanical name: Abelia x grandiflora
This attractive, arching shrub has beautiful deep green glossy foliage with coppery highlights and fall color; tubular white flowers in summer make it the perfect accent or screen.
Ornamental Features
Glossy Abelia features dainty clusters of lightly-scented white tubular flowers at the ends of the branches in mid summer. It has attractive dark green foliage. The glossy oval leaves are highly ornamental and turn an outstanding coppery-bronze in the fall. The fruit is not ornamentally significant.
Landscape Attributes
Glossy Abelia is a multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with a mounded form. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition.
This shrub will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and should only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. It is a good choice for attracting birds, bees and butterflies to your yard, but is not particularly attractive to deer who tend to leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.
Glossy Abelia is recommended for the following landscape applications;
Accent, Mass Planting, General Garden Use, Container Planting
Planting and Growing
Glossy Abelia will grow to be about 6 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 5 feet. It tends to fill out right to the ground and therefore doesn't necessarily require facer plants in front, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 30 years.
This shrub does best in full sun to partial shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid.
Glossy Abelia makes a fine choice for the outdoor landscape, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its height, it is often used as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when grown in a container, it may not perform exactly as indicated on the tag - this is to be expected. Also note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.
