Weigela “Eva Rathke”
A lovely deciduous shrub that brings a generous flush of crimson-red flowers to the garden from late spring into summer. The flowers are held amongst dark green foliage, creating a particularly pleasing contrast and a long season of colour.
With its relatively slow growing and compact habit, ‘Eva Rathke’ grows to around 1.5–2m tall and wide, making it a useful choice for mixed borders and smaller garden spaces. It is adaptable to full sun or part shade and, once established, is both frost tolerant and drought hardy.
A light prune after flowering will help keep the plant neat and encourage fresh growth.
- 10cm (4") pots
$15.00
In stock
A beautiful old-fashioned Weigela with a long history in cultivation, ‘Eva Rathke’ was raised around 1890 by a nurseryman named Rathke in Praust, near present-day Gdańsk in Poland. It is a hybrid of Weigela florida and W. praecox, two species originating in the open woodlands of eastern Asia, from northern China and Manchuria through Korea and Japan.
Introduced to British gardens only a few years after its creation, ‘Eva Rathke’ quickly became valued for its rich crimson-red flowers, a particularly striking colour at a time when many Weigelas flowered in softer shades of pink. More than a century later, it remains a much-loved garden shrub and has contributed its strong red colouring to a number of later Weigela cultivars.
It forms a relatively compact, rounded shrub to around 1.5–2m tall and wide. From late spring through summer, its branches are covered with tubular crimson flowers, with flowering often continuing more lightly later in the season. The dark green, oval foliage provides a handsome backdrop to the flowers.
A charming choice for a mixed shrub border, where its old-fashioned character works beautifully alongside perennials and other flowering shrubs. Grow in full sun to part shade in well-drained soil. Frost tolerant and drought hardy once established. Prune after flowering to maintain its shape and encourage fresh growth.
Orders containing plants or bulbs
Orders containing plants or bulbs are $20.00 flat rate for VIC, $25.00 flat rate for NSW/ACT, QLD, SA and TAS regardless of quantity. Any combination of other items with plants and bulbs are included.
Seed orders
Seed orders are $7.95 flat rate.
