Here's a great, fast growing and compact Abelia grandiflora called 'Kaleidoscope' that would be a great addition to your landscape. It is a very colorful, dense and low mounding shrub that grows 24 to 30 inches tall by 36 to 42 inches wide. It has bright red stems holding strongly variegated leaves that are bright yellow with a light green center in the spring. Gradually these change to golden yellow with a green center in the summer and then in the fall and winter turn a combination of golden yellow, bright orange, and fiery red. They look really cool! Now the flowers are typical Abelia. They start as very light pink buds and open up to small, white, tubular flowers.
I've now used this plant in a couple of designs recently and I have been very blessed with good results and performance with wonderful comments from my clients. I have noticed that just like all Abelia's it seems these can get a bit "leggy" but that can tend to be very attractive and desirable for some clients. Regular maintenance will help.
Abelia grandiflora 'Kaleidoscope' is hardy in USDA Zones 6 to 10. It works great as a container planting and as a low mounding accent plant in the garden it is a wonderful choice for mass plantings, which is something that appeals to my design style. The foliage does not scorch or bleach in full sun as do some other variegated Abelia cultivars do but be sure to give the plant some afternoon shade if possible. The plant likes most soil types but does perform poorly in heavy, poorly drained soils that are very high Ph. So make sure to amend the soil if necessary.
Enjoy!
