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Variegated Weigela, an Excellent Plant to Grow and Sell from Home.
Variegated Weigela in Bloom
Variegated Weigela, Weigela florida ‘Variegata’, is a staple in my nursery and has been for years. The ultra attractive variegated leaves are plenty eye catching, but as soon as one of these plants makes a flower in the spring it flies out the door!
Seriously. Sometimes it’s frustrating because it’s nice to have some in bloom for our spring sales, but as soon as a flower opens up somebody buys that plant.
Pink and white flower combination on variegated weigela.
I find variegated weigela to be hardy here in zone 5 but I wouldn’t try growing it in colder zones. Even though we’ve had two winters in a row with temps down as low as 22 below zero and mine have done well. Even if some winter damage occurs all you have to do is cut the plant back and presto! It fills back in nicely.
This is a fast growing shrub. If let grow out it will spray out very natural, much the same in shape as a Forsysthia. Or they can be kept trimmed to about 24″ if that’s what you need.
Some white, some pink flowers make variegated weigela a super eye catching plant.
Easy to grow, easy to propagate. Softwood Cuttings root very easily but it can also be done just as easily as Hardwood Cuttings. That means that you can start taking cuttings as early as June and just keep on sticking cuttings through the summer, into the fall and even winter.
Like most times, the only time that you don’t want to take cuttings of this plant in spring when the plant is putting on new growth. We use a six week rule to know when to start sticking our cuttings in the spring.
The Six Week Rule.
Here’s the thing with softwood cuttings. Forget about what they say online about bloom date etc. If you follow the six week rule you can’t go wrong as far as timing is concerned as to when to start doing softwood cuttings. (Yeah, yeah I know. I’m online spewing information too.)
From the day plants get their leaves in the spring, count ahead six weeks. During that six week period the plant actually produces, for you, about 5 or 6 inches of new, soft growth that can be used for softwood cuttings. That new growth needs six weeks to harden off enough to be used as a softwood cutting.
If you take the cuttings too soon, they will wilt down and fail, but most importantly you will have wasted those cuttings. You can take a few, stick them Under Mist, and see how they hold up. If they stand up, you’re good to go. Some wilting is normal, but laying flat on the rooting medium is not good.
Typically cuttings that wilt right after being stuck should be pretty well standing up the next morning. If they don’t, they are too soft, give them another week to harden off before you take more.
Anytime you can offer a plant for sale with a beautiful flower like this it is going to sell like crazy. This is a plant that always sells well in Our Members Area. It’s not something that I would do ten thousand of, but I root about 400 a year for my nursery and I know I could sell hundreds as liners.
There you have it. Easy to grow, great seller!
Questions or comments, post them below.
Source: http://mikesbackyardnursery.com/2015/10/variegated-weigela-an-excellent-plant-to-grow-and-sell-from-home/
