Tres Amigos™ Abelia

Light Needs

Partial Sun to Full Sun

(At Least 5 Hours of Direct Sunlight)

Mature Height

2-3 Feet

Mature Spread

2-5 Feet

Growing Zones

6 to 9

You don’t have to choose when it comes to foliage color when you include the Tres Amigos™ or Abelia grandiflora into your landscape. The variegated foliage changes throughout the growing season and shifts from dominantly yellow in the spring to a bold pink along the margins with hints of green and cream during the summer. The bold foliage is enough reason to love this compact shrub, but fragrant white fluted flowers add even more interest. This low-maintenance beauty grows as a perennial in USDA zones 6 through 9.

Tres Amigos™ makes a lovely addition to foundation or landscape plantings, and borders especially when featured towards the front of a bed due to its compact size that generally reaches about 3 feet tall. The pure white flowers bloom on new growth and have a scent similar to jasmine, making this plant a very welcome addition to decks, patios, or near doors or windows that will allow the smell to waft inside. This deer-resistant mounded shrub is an evergreen, providing year-round color and visual interest.

Tres Amigos™ Abelia Care

Tres Amigos™ abelia is a low-maintenance perennial that does well with very little care. This plant needs part to full sun, so find a spot that receives at least 4 hours of sunlight. The variegated foliage will have more intense colors when grown in high levels of sunlight, so place the abelia in a spot that gets 6 or more hours of daylight to enjoy more vibrant colors. Tres Amigos™ has average water needs and prefers acidic to slightly alkaline soil, ranging between 5.0 to 7.5 pH.

Fertilize once during the spring and again midsummer using a balanced fertilizer. Trim back overgrowth and shape the plant in late winter or early spring before new growth emerges. Flowers bloom on new growth, so do not prune after new growth appears because it may reduce the number of blooms.

Tres Amigos™ Abelia Spacing

Tres Amigos™ is a compact mounding shrub that grows about 24 to 36 inches tall and spreads out 24 to 60 inches. Space plants 24 to 60 inches apart create a continuous shrub. Place further apart to maintain space around the plant and create more of a focal point.