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From Pirates to Butterflies – Meet Abelia chinensis

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Dr. Gerald Klingaman

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Abelia chinensis flowers mass
Photo Credit: Gerald Klingaman
Chinese abelia produces a profusion of blooms in late summer that butterflies can’t resist.
Gardeners wanting to attract butterflies to their yards would be wise to try Chinese abelia (Abelia chinensis). This 6-foot-tall shrub produces an explosion of white, spiky trusses in late summer and fall and is a welcomed sight for our beautiful winged friends. But making its way into our American gardens was not an easy journey for this butterfly-loving plant. …

Abelia is named after Clarke Abel (1780-1826), a surgeon and naturalist on the second unsuccessful British embassy to China in 1816. The embassy was attempting to obtain more favorable trading privileges for the English East India Company, which was finally accomplished by the Opium Wars 20 years later.

Abel collected specimens and seed of the plant – later named Abelia chinensis in his honor – while he and the embassy were being politely, but firmly, ushered out of the country along the Grand Canal. On his return voyage, Abel’s ship struck an uncharted reef, and the party found itself shipwrecked near present-day Sumatra in Indonesia. A seaman, acting on the orders of one of the aristocrats on board, dumped Abel’s 300 packets of seed into the sea so that his clothes could be saved.

Facts
  • Chinese abelia produces long, wispy growth covered with maroon-tinged leaves on arching stems.
  • Sometime before 1866 in Italy, Abelia chinensis crossed with A. uniflora, another Chinese species, and the glossy abelia as we know it today was born. Unfortunately no record remains of who made this cross, but it’s not hard to imagine that the butterflies and bees did the work.
Tips
  • Prune Chinese abelia back hard in the spring before new growth begins to control its size.
 
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Articles
  • Growing Chinese Abelia
    Chinese abelia is a butterfly magnet. It’s widely adapted, easy to grow and suitable for almost any garden. In late summer the Chinese abelia produces a profusion of blooms attracting these flying flowers from throughout the neighborhood.
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