Desmodium elegans
Elegant beggarweed
Also known as Desmodium tiliifolium
- Height × spread
- 1.5m × 1m
- Position
- Full sun
- Hardiness
- Average winter to - 10C (RHS H4)
- Flowers
- Summer, Autumn
Availability
Please ask in store about availability
Many plants are seasonal. Call 01234 567890 to check current stock.
About this plant
This very pretty shrub has vertical stems and pendulous leaves on ruddy brown stalks. The leaflets are diamond-shaped, quite broad, and downy on their underside. They are held in threes at the end of individual stalks. Pretty, whorled, rosy-red flowers appear in late August and September if the summer has been a hot one.
- Flower colour
- Red
- Foliage colour
- Green
- Stem colour
- Brown
- Variegated
- No
- Scent
- No
- Shape
- Bell
- Height
- 1.5m
- Spread
- 1m
- Season of interest
- Spring, Summer
- Flowers in
- Summer, Autumn
- Evergreen
- Deciduous
- Sun or shade
- Likes full sun
- Soil type
- Chalk, Loam (normal)
- Soil pH
- All types
- Drainage
- Well drained soil, Dry soil, Drought resistant
- Hardiness
- Average winter to - 10C (RHS H4)
- Borders & containers
- Borders
- Use for
- Structural, Sensory garden (tactile)
- Hazards
- No
Spring
Spring-Autumn · Outdoors
Water in dry periods
Established plants in the ground can cope with 7-10 days of dryness, and shrubs often manage 2 to 3 weeks. Water one section of the garden thoroughly each day rather than a little everywhere. Check plants in pots more often, especially in hot weather.
Spring - early-mid · Planting
Prune old branches
On established shrubs, remove a third of the old branches to the base in early spring. Cut off old flower heads to a lower bud. This can be done every couple of years if the plant looks well-proportioned or is slow growing.
Summer
Summer - early · Outdoors
Feed a general fertiliser
Where plants have moderate needs for nutrients, they can simply be given a general feed, fairly early in the growth season so that the growth has plenty of time to harden off before the cold weather.
Give plants a general boost with the application of a general purpose fertiliser which is spread around the root area of the plant, with amounts as directed on the feed label.
Planting & general
Outdoor planting · Planting
Add root growth stimulant to the planting hole
Mycorrhizal fungi helps roots establish quickly, so they absorb water and nutrients more efficiently. It comes as a powder, granule or gel. Add to the planting hole or container, and to the plant's rootball before planting in the hole. For "bareroot" plants use a gel.