Diervilla x splendens Mountaineer® 'Merlot'- MOUNTAIN BUSH-HONEYSUCKLE MOUNTANEER® 'MERLOT'

Mountaineer® 'Merlot' is mid-sized, fast growing shrub with deep, clear merlot-red foliage borne on deep purple upright stems. Small pale yellow tubular flowers. Holds the color from spring to fall.

Blooming Time:  June/July 
Size: usually 3.5' tall x 4.5' wide mounding shrubs. In ideal conditions up to 6' tall x 8' wide. Slowly spreads by underground rhizomes and forms small colonies
USDA zones: 5 to 8/9
Culture: full sun, half shade are the best for the leaf coloration, but it will grow in full shade too. Average soil with average moisture, somewhat drained soil (with some gritty or rocky component), tolerates clay and soils with salt. Adaptable to various soils and light conditions. Established plants are drought tolerant.
Moisture Needs: medium (to medium-dry and medium-moist). Tolerant to heat, humidity
Origin: hybrid of several native species (Diervilla rivularis, D. rivularis and D. sessilifolia). Introduced by Hortech, as one of the cultivars of the Mountaineer® serie.
Deer/rabbit resistant:  yes/yes
Attracts Butterflies or Pollinators: native bees, butterflies
Attracts Hummingbirds: yes
Pot size: square 3.5 " x 4" deep perennial pot
Plant combinations: For cottage gardens, pollinator gardens, hummingbird gardens, slopes, erosion control, saline soils, naturalization in the woodland edge gardens. Good companions can be many medium-sized or bigger common perennials. In sunny location it can be Amsonia, Asters, Baptisia, taller hardy Geraniums, Irises, larger Nepeta, Paeonia, Rudbeckia, larger Salvia, tall Sedum, grasses like Calamagrostis or Panicum.

In half-shade, dappled sun/shade woodland edge/ woodland perennials  - Aquilegia, Anemone x hupehensis, Chelone, Chrysogonum, Dicentra, Gillenia, Geum, Helleborus, Heuchera, Hosta,  Polemonium, Polygonatum, Polygonum, Tradescantia, Tricyrtis, Spigellia, or sedges - Carex or Hakonechloa.

Or combine with medium-sized shrubs.

Picture copyright: Hortech