Weigela le Printemps

Deciduous Weigela le Printemps is a beautiful pale pink flowering weigela with highly decorative foliage. It’s a good choice for compact gardens and a terrific bee magnet. Weigela are some of the most popular UK garden shrubs and la Printemps is a firm favourite here.

Scottish plant hunter Robert Fortune found weigela in Asia and introduced them to the UK in the mid-1800s where they were instantly popular for their pretty blooms and ability to withstand the UK climate. Weigela is a member of the honeysuckle family, but it forms a genus of hardy flowering shrubs.

The cultivar Weigela le Printemps was developed by Lemoine in 1901. It’s name means “spring”, which is a fitting name because it’s one of the first to flower in late March. Its trumpet-shaped flowers are so pale pink they sometimes appear white and cover the shrub in a mass of blooms. Bees love this cultivar so much it vibrates and hums with springtime visitors.

This handsome weigela is a large cultivar with strong, woody stems and ovate matte green leaves through spring and into autumn.

Height and Spread of Weigela le Printemps
Upright and spreading Weigela le Printemps reaches a maximum height of four metres by two metres wide.  

How Hardy is Weigela le Printemps
It’s a hardy shrub during minus-temperature winters if its roots are well-drained. It will cope with some drought, but lack of water affects its flower display.

How To Use Weigela le Printemps
This decorative shrub is eye-catching and stands out in all garden styles. From March and into summer it’s smothered in pale pink flowers, so it’s a mixed border icon.
Its pollinator-friendly properties enhance a woodland or wildlife-friendly garden. Its large trumpet-shaped blooms are especially attractive to fat bumblebees who are able to reach its deep-seated nectar.

Beautiful in a flower border, and equally at home in a balcony container, weigela le Printemps is spring and summer’s belle of the ball.

How to Care for Weigela le Printemps
Weigela le Printemps is easy to care for.
Plant it in a sunny to partially shaded spot in fertile, moist, but well drained soil of any type and it will thrive.
Remove dead or crossed branches in early spring when its leaves are unfurling, but prune shrubs back after flowers have finished because weigela flowers on last year’s wood. Cut back to a bud, but don’t remove more than 1/3 of its overall growth.
Apply a thick layer of rich organic mulch to its roots in early spring and drench it during very dry spells to preserve its glorious flower display.