Beautybush

Beautybush (Kolkwitzia amabilis) is a deciduous shrub that turns into a pink waterfall when it flowers. The arching shoots cascade outwards, and every one of them is smothered in clusters of soft pink bells with a yellow netted pattern in the throat.

A mature plant reaches 2.5-4 m in height and as much across, taking 5-10 years to get there - this is a shrub for space. Use it in mass plantings, as an informal hedge or screen on a large plot, or as a specimen in a shrub border. It flowers on last year's wood, so prune it right after flowering.

Key characteristics:

• What makes it special: The bark on older stems peels away in strips, so the shrub still holds interest in winter, long after the flowers and leaves are gone.
• Dimensions: In 5-10 years it grows to 2.5-4 m tall and just as wide.
• Hardiness: Hardy down to -34 °C (USDA zone 4).
• Flowering: From April to June the shrub is covered in pink bell-shaped flowers with a yellow throat, gathered in corymbs.
• Light: It flowers most abundantly in full sun, though it takes partial shade well too.
• Soil: It takes readily to any soil - chalk, clay, loam or sand - provided the drainage is good.
• Watering: Water moderately: never let it dry out, and never let water stand around the roots.
• Care: It flowers on last year's shoots, so thin the bush and cut out old stems right after flowering.
• Landscape use: Striking in a mass planting, in an informal hedge or screen on a large plot, and in a shrub border.
• Origin: The genus is named after Richard Kolkwitz, a professor of botany in Berlin, while the epithet amabilis simply means "lovely".