Deutzia-Deer Resistant and Colorful

I love it when I see an old-fashioned shrub, one that has not been tinkered with by hydridizers, at an established property in all it’s glory. These shrubs require a lot of space, at least 10′ x 10′ or more to grow unfettered and spread out in all their glory. The pink one below I saw at Nemours in May when all Deutzias are putting on a flower show.

Deutzias are valuable to the landscape industry because there are also compact selections that fit into smaller gardens and deer avoid them! They work well in a variety of settings—in the shrub border, as a transition plant between the garden and woodlands, or as a specimen or foundation shrub.

Mostly I install the smaller varieties for clients as they are much more manageable. Nowadays, everyone wants a dwarf shrub to fit into a 3′ x 3′ space, stay that way for many years, and require little or no maintenance. Oh, and have lots of beautiful flowers-preferably pink!

Deutzias have been around a long time with cascading flowers that waterfall off the shrub in late spring that can cover the plant. Native to Asia and Central America, Deutzia is an easy to grow deciduous shrub in sun or part shade that is used as a ground cover or a specimen plant. A lot of people are familiar with the cultivar ‘Nikko’  which won The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society Gold Medal Award, 1989. Great, cascading over low walls, ‘Nikko’ can spread 4-5 feet wide in ten years but remain only 18″ tall.

As a landscape designer, I am guilty of looking for cultivars of the old-fashioned shrubs like Deutzias in a smaller package. ‘Chardonnay Pearls’ with its golden foliage and the new ‘Yuki Cherry Blossom’ with pink flowers fit the bill for me and my clients.

‘Yuki Cherry Blossom’ is a pink flowered compact Deutzia shrub ready to fit into a small landscape or container. With soft pink flowers covering the plant in spring, it is a great little plant to use in borders along with other flowering perennials, only getting 2’x 2′.

Kiftsgate in the UK had some of the most glorious Deutzias I have ever seen. I am looking for source of ‘Rosalind’ which was beautiful cascading over the walkways.

‘Chardonnay Pearls’ by Proven Winners is a beautiful Deutzia with chartreuse foliage which does great in partial shade and does well on hillsides. The arching branches root in at the tip and are great for stabilizing hillsides. The golden foliage brightens up partly shady locations.

I love my tall double flowered Deutzia for arranging. It can get to be 8 feet tall, but I trim it down every year to make it more manageable.  Deutzia blooms on the previous year’s growth – old wood – so be sure to prune it right after blooming. Otherwise you may be cutting off the new flowers. For rejuvenation pruning, cut back by 1/3 of the entire plant and remove to the ground up to 1/3 of the old stems.

A double-flowered Deutzia