A Proven Winners® ColorChoice® Flowering Shrubs variety, Abelia Mucho Gusto™ is a small semievergreen shrub that blooms throughout summer. The clusters of bell-shaped white flowers emit a soft fragrance and attract pollinators to the garden, including bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. But even when not in bloom, this charming shrub is highly ornamental with its silvery green leaves outlined by a creamy white margin. And its variegation is stable.
An Abelia x grandiflora, commonly called abelia or glossy abelia, Mucho Gusto has a compact, mounded habit and strong growth, due to its solid root system. Massed or grouped, it is an excellent choice for general landscaping in beds, borders, and foundation plantings; and it's an especially attractive (and effective) option for controlling erosion on banks and slopes. But it also makes a lovely specimen plant.
Tough, easy to grow, and virtually maintenance free once established, glossy abelia grows best in sunny to partly sunny locations with moist, organically rich, well-draining soils but adapts to a range of soils and tolerates periods of dry soil. In hot summer climates, some shade and mulch may be beneficial. Blooms are borne on new wood, so any desired pruning should be done in late winter to early spring, before new growth emerges. Trimming in summer removes flowers but encourages colorful new growth.
