This shrub started growing about 15 feet from the spot where I once had a large Kolkwitzia (now reclassified as a Linnaea) growing. It's in the middle of a rose bed, so if it's a Beauty Bush I'll move it to a more suitable spot. If it's something else, I'll just dig it up and get rid of it.

The color's a little deceptive because the flash went off. I couldn't take a photo of the whole shrub because it's surrounded by tall roses. In fact, I risked life and limb to take this closeup of the foliage. There are a few rose leaves near the bottom center of the photo, so please don't be distracted by those.

Ida said albelia... But in checking google images... Albelia seemed to be used interchangeably.

Gorgeous flowers!
Look like bignonia blooms....

I don't blame you for wanting it to be linnaea amablis.

Looks like Abelia foliage to me too.

Looks like it boils down to hairiness on the undersides of the leaves/petioles. Abelia should be less hairy; Kolkwitzia (syn. Linnaea) amabilis is more so.

Who wants to sponsor a new mission for zuzu to salvage one of those limbs previously - and successfully - risked?

Does Kolkwitzia have larger leaves than Abelia? It would also be deciduous, rather than evergreen. The Royal Hort. dictionary says the bark is exfoliating and leaves are 3-7.5 cm x 5cm.

Abelia x grandiflora shows leaves to be 1.5-6.5 x 3cm and lustrous dark green above above, and lighter and shiny beneath.

This conversation is sounding kind of funny because the Abelia and Kolkwitzia genera no longer exist. They're both part of the Linnaea genus now (except for a few Abelias that are now classified as Zabelias). Anyway, here are some closeups of the leaves of my mystery plant (at the top) and a Linnaea amabilis (formerly known as Kolkwitzia amabilis).

Neither is hairy on the underside. The leaves of the mystery shrub are smaller, but could that be due to its relative youth? The L. amabilis at the bottom in the two photos is about 15 or 20 years older. Also, the L. amabilis bloomed a couple of months ago and was pruned afterward, whereas the mystery shrub was too young to bloom and therefore was not pruned. That might be the reason it's showing reddish new growth, in contrast to the older shrub.

Top of foliage



Underside of foliage

Has Bush Honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) made its way to that part of the world, yet? It's the sort of thing that would show up uninvited.

Thankfully, I've never seen that one here.

I was thinking Amur Honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) too. Any details? Flowers? Berries? The stem looks too dark for a beautyberry.

It's too young to have bloomed or produced berries yet and the stem of the young mystery shrub (at the top in the photos) is actually still a little lighter than the stem of my bona fide Linnaea amabilis (the bottom stem in the pictures).