Pink Saturday

Rosea Beauty Bush

This beautiful PINK bush sits in the back yard, in a cloud of
PINK frilly blossoms. This year it is particularly stunning! I
think it will need a good pruning in the fall, so it may take a
couple of years to get this big again after it's trimmed.
I don't know how old it is, it was here when we moved in 4
years ago. My Aunt and Uncle recently saw it and were
surprised. They seem to think the bush is a rare find in the
northwest. I did a little investigating online and here is what
I discovered...

Back in the early 1800's the shrub got it's name from a Botany
Professor in Berlin, Dr. Kolkwritz. He of course named the bush
for himself, calling it Kolkwritzia Amabitis, I know it's a mouthful
right! I'm thinking that if I discovered something, I would NOT
want to name it after myself.
Evidently, since few people could pronounce the name, few
gardeners in our country even knew what this shrub looked
like. Then a clever nursery man gave it the common name of
beauty bush and it became wildly popular, especially on the
east coast.

The beauty bush blooms once a year in late spring. It's blossoms
are very sweet smelling, which I can attest to. And the Bees. I
risked my life to bring you all these photos. The Beauty Bush was
literally SWARMING with the little black and yellow buggers.
I had to get in and get out ASAP!

The bush originated in China and grows as high as 10 feet. I took
the tape measure to this one, yes I'm thorough, and she stands
a whopping 9 1/2 feet at the tippy top of her branches.

An old abandoned bird house sits amongst the PINK beauty. I
don't know why the birds moved out. If I could live in a cloud of
PINK once a year, I would do it! Maybe the inside needs to go
through a spring cleaning.


Notice one of the many Bees ( middle left side) that I had to dodge
to collect these pretty photographs. I did not fib, they were everywhere!

As the Beauty Bush ages, it's smooth bark splits vertically and
then begins to peel. This is one of the things that leads me to
believe that this bush is fairly old, it's trunk looks like it has seen
more than a few years pass by.

Be sure to swing over to our wonderful
PINK Hostess, Beverly at How Sweet The
The Sound, to find the full list of Pink Saturday participants. It is so much fun
going from site to site discovering what
everyone loves about PINK!


Happy Pink Saturday To Everyone!