Weigela 'Spilled Wine'
Weigela florida 'Bokraspiwi' (Spilled Wine) · Caprifoliaceae
Dark red-purple, wavy leaves on a low shrub wider than tall, with hot magenta-pink flowers in late spring.
- Size
- 2½ ft tall, 3 ft wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Late May to mid June
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around weigela 'Spilled Wine'
The planner designed this bed around weigela 'Spilled Wine' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why weigela 'Spilled Wine' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Weigela 'Spilled Wine' × 1, pink
- 2 Moor grass 'Greenlee' × 4, tan
- 3 Heath aster 'Snow Flurry' × 8, white
- 4 False sunflower 'Summer Nights' × 3, yellow
- 5 Purple milkweed × 3, purple
- 6 Spurge 'Blackbird' × 3, purple leaves
- 7 Schubert's allium × 3, pink
- 8 Tulip × 5, red
Why this plant
- The only trumpets. The others are spires, daisies, flat plates and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- Part of the bed's structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down. So does moor grass 'Greenlee'.
Why here
- In the middle. At 2½ ft it is seen over heath aster 'Snow Flurry' (6 in) in front of it.
- One plant, alone. A shrub is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- In flower for four weeks. From late May to mid June.
- Part of the bed's peak. With moor grass 'Greenlee', purple milkweed and Schubert's allium in early June: 4 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as an English border: 6 of the 6 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. For contrast, the bold leaves of purple milkweed sit beside the fine leaves of heath aster 'Snow Flurry'. The back corners are held by false sunflower 'Summer Nights' and purple milkweed, the tallest plants on the plan.
The planner's own design check: 13 Excellent, 4 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where weigela 'Spilled Wine' goes in a border
At 2½ ft it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium (24 in to 2½ ft).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
A dwarf, spreading version of 'Wine & Roses'. Its dark, low mass is useful at the front of a border, where purple foliage is hard to find.
- Dark foliage at the front
- Massing
- Edging a sunny path
What to plant with weigela 'Spilled Wine'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Threadleaf coreopsis 'Moonbeam': takes over when it finishes, flowering from late June.
- Lamb's ear: its silver leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; bold leaves against its medium ones; spires rising out of its mound.
- Spirea 'Ogon': flowers first, early April to late April, so the spot is never empty; tall enough (4 ft) to stand behind it.
Questions about weigela 'Spilled Wine'
Does weigela 'Spilled Wine' need sun or shade?
Weigela 'Spilled Wine' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does weigela 'Spilled Wine' grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 8. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does weigela 'Spilled Wine' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late May to mid June. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 4 | Late May to late June |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Late May to mid June |
| Zone 6 | Mid May to mid June |
| Zone 7 | Early May to early June |
| Zone 8 | Early May to early June |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should weigela 'Spilled Wine' be planted?
2½ ft (80 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 3 ft (90 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 2½ ft (70 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many weigela 'Spilled Wine' plants do I need?
At 2½ ft apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 2 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 4 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 5 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is weigela 'Spilled Wine' poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Is there a native plant like weigela 'Spilled Wine'?
Weigela 'Spilled Wine' comes from Northern China, Korea and Japan. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Shrubby cinquefoil 'Abbotswood': the same job in a bed; 4 in wider, flowers early June to mid September.
- Bluestar 'Storm Cloud': the same job in a bed, the same size and the same flowering time; blue, not pink.
- Eastern bee balm: the same job in a bed, the same flowering time and the same colour; 8 in shorter, 14 in narrower.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
Do deer eat weigela 'Spilled Wine'?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What flowers after weigela 'Spilled Wine'?
Weigela 'Spilled Wine' is over by mid June. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Threadleaf coreopsis 'Moonbeam': from late June to early September, 18 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems (a recorded partner).
- Black-eyed Susan: from mid July to mid September, 24 in tall.
- Butterfly weed: from late June to early August, 24 in tall.
What does weigela 'Spilled Wine' look like in winter?
Weigela 'Spilled Wine' drops its leaves and stands as bare branches. That is when to see its shape, and to prune it if it needs pruning.
Is weigela 'Spilled Wine' good for bees and butterflies?
Weigela 'Spilled Wine' is visited by butterflies and hummingbirds.
More Weigela
- Dwarf weigela 'My Monet' Weigela florida 'My Monet'
- Weigela 'Red Prince' Weigela 'Red Prince'
- Weigela 'Sonic Bloom Pink' Weigela florida 'Bokrasopin' (Sonic Bloom Pink)
- Weigela 'Wine & Roses' Weigela florida 'Wine & Roses'
In these guides
- Salt-tolerant plants for roadsides and coasts
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Plants for hummingbirds
- Plants for butterflies
- Shrubs under 4 feet for small gardens
- Plants with purple and burgundy leaves
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 2½ ft (70 cm) tall, 3 ft (90 cm) wide
- Plant
- 2½ ft (80 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium (24 in to 2½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- Late May to mid June; trumpets; pink
- Leaves
- Medium texture, deciduous; purple, burgundy
- Shape
- Mounding, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Caprifoliaceae
- Comes from
- Northern China, Korea and Japan
- Attracts
- Butterflies, hummingbirds
- Stands up to
- Deer, salt
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.