Kolkwitzia amabilis ‘Pink Cloud’ (the beauty bush)

Plant of the month:

Kolkwitzia amabilis 'Pink Cloud' - Plants of the Month May


Pinetum point by fountain


Named for Richard Kolkwitz, a professor of botany in Berlin around 1900, the beauty bush is a native of China where it is found in rocky, mountainous areas of Hubei province. The species was first introduced by E.H.Wilson in 1901 but this cultivar was raised at RHS Wisley in 1946 and has deeper pink flowers smothering its graceful stems which arch under the weight of the lavish display. It likes a fertile, well drained soil, preferably in full sun but some shade is tolerated. Given adequate space and sun it makes a spectacular specimen in the shrub border in June.