Diervilla
(named in honour of M. Dierville, a French surgeon). SYN. Weigelia. ORD. Caprifoliaceae. A genus of very handsome hardy shrubs. Flowers white, purple, pink, or yellow, in axillary and terminal clusters; corolla funnel-shaped or campanulate; tube regular. Leaves opposite, sessile, or petiolate, serrated. These elegant shrubs are of very easy culture in common garden soil, if the situation is a rather moist and shaded one. Propagation may be readily effected by cuttings, made in spring or autumn, or by the freely-produced suckers. The gracefully spreading form of Diervillas renders them remarkably well adapted for shrubberies; and D. grandiflora, in particular, can be very successfully grown as a wall-plant. D. amabilis (lovely). A synonym of D. grandiflora.
D. canadensis (Canadian). A synonym of D. trifida.
D. floribunda (many-flowered). fl., corollas purplish, narrow, tubular, only slightly expanded towards the mouth. June. h. 3ft. Japan, 1864. SYN. D. multiflora. (I. H. 383.) D. grandiflora (large-flowered).* fl. pink. Early summer. l. strongly reticulated, the veins being very prominent on the under side. h. 8ft. Japan. SYN. D. amabilis. (F. d. S. 855.) There are several very ornamental varieties: Isolinae, flowers white, with a yellow blotch in the throat (F. d. S. 1445); striata, striped red and white (F. d. S. 1446); and Van Houttei, white and rose, very showy (F. d. S. 1447); another variety, variegata, has prettily variegated leaves (F. d. S. 1189).
D. hortensis (garden). fl. red or white; corolla tube slender, slightly hairy outside, glabrous within; limb regular, with spreading ovate lobes. l. stalked, ovate, acuminate, crenate, or crenate-serrulate, softly hairy. h. 4ft. to 5ft. Japan. (S. Z. F. J. 29.) D. Middendorfiana. (Middendorf's). fl. yellowish-white, dotted with pink on the lower petal; panicles terminal. l. nearly sessile, ovate-lanceolate, finely reticulated, hairy on the nerves. Siberia.
D. multiflora (many-flowered). A synonym of D. floribunda. D. rosea (rose).* fl. rosy or white, very numerously produced. Spring. l. ovate-lanceolate, serrulate. h. 6ft. China, 1844. Of this widely-grown species, there are several excellent varieties: nana is a very compact, dwarf-growing form: nana aurea is like nana, except that the foliage (particularly in a young state) is a rich golden colour; Stelzneri is a very floriferous purplish-red form.
D. trifida (trifid). fl. yellow. Summer. l. on short petioles, ovate, acuminated, serrated, and, as well as the petioles, glabrous. Root creeping. h. 3ft. to 4ft. North America, 1739. SYN. D. canadensis.