Abstract
Abelia ×grandiflora is a drought-tolerant, pest-resistant, flowering shrub that has long been used as a foundation plant. Interspecific hybridization has produced seedlings with an assortment of morphological traits, allowing for development of new cultivars with unique or improved qualities. `Raspberry Profusion' and `Lavender Mist', developed at the University of Georgia, are seedling selections of `Edward Goucher' × Abelia chinensis. `Raspberry Profusion' is a very heavy and very early bloomer. Panicles are large and showy with fragrant pink flowers and raspberry-colored sepals. Flowering begins in early May and becomes very heavy by early June. The bright-colored sepals remain on the plant throughout the summer. Summer foliage is a medium to dark green color. In a pot, `Raspberry Profusion' blooms early and heavily. `Lavender Mist' is a heavy bloomer, with clusters of fragrant lavender flowers beginning in mid-June, and continuing into autumn. Sepals are a straw-green color at the base, becoming rose at the tips. Summer foliage is gray-green. `Lavender Mist' performs well in a pot, forming a gray-green mound contrasting with the lavender blossoms scattered around the plant. Leaves on both cultivars are glossy, particularly from mid-summer through autumn. Both plants tend to be mostly deciduous in the winter. Laboratory evaluations of cold hardiness in Griffin, Ga., during Winter 2003–04 revealed a mid-winter hardiness of –18 °C to –21 °C for `Raspberry Profusion' and –15 °C to –17 °C for `Lavender Mist'. These plants develop into dense compact shrubs following pruning and establishment in the landscape.
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