Hello Linda

Yes, it can be confusing because weigela bloom on both last year‘s wood and on new growth of the current season. Plants bloom heavily in late spring on the previous year’s growth. They also bloom intermittently through the summer on the current season’s growth. Because this sparse bloom later on isn’t as showy, some references don’t mention it.

Weigelas are prone to winter dieback. Carefully examine plants in early spring and prune out any dead wood. Dead wood is dry brittle brown when you scratch off a little bark with a finger nail. Live branches have green moist wood and buds are beginning to swell, and are moist.

If the weigelas suffer little dieback, remove a few of the largest, oldest stems cutting back them to the soil line on large, well-established plants. Removal of a few large branches in late winter/early spring allows the shrub to bloom in late spring on the remaining branches and produce vigorous new flowering shoots for future years. Weigelas can also be lightly pruned immediately after the late spring bloom.

A combination of branch to branch shaping and thinning( see the following link) should work well for your shrubs. Use sharp pruners because a clean cut heals over best. Do not remove more than 1/3 of the total branches in any one pruning, so enough leaf buds are available to generate food for the plant.

https://static.colostate.edu/client-files/csfs/pdfs/PruningFloweringShrubs_619.pdf

On 09/08/2021 1:32 PM Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:

You are very welcome. Glad to be of help!