As Floral said, as long as the shrub looks good and blooms well, there is no reason you have to prune. If it starts looking bad and you want to prune, only do so soon after bloom. Otherwise, you will be removing next year's flowers. You can remove broken or dead branches at any time. In a whiskey barrel planter, I would expect that it is one of the petite varieties, and IME those need little pruning. There are also some 6'-8' types that may need more pruning but wouldn't fit long term in a planter that size.

Its a half wine barrel and the reason I planted it in it was because that fits nicely in the front of my house, sunny location. The tag did not refer to it as the petite/dwarf variety. Most likely it would restrain itself according to the limitation size of the planter. Thank you.

If grown in a planter, it would benefit from some fertilization!! Containerized plants cannot access nutrient in the same manner as those in the ground can. And container or potting soils are generally pretty devoid of nutrients as well.

Point well taken, thank you.

Does the tag give a cultivar name? If so you can find out if it's a dwarf.

the tag says that it would grow to about 4 1/2 feet and 5' wide, but it does not define how its grown...in a container or the ground. The 3 years i have it in my wine half size container it never has grown taller than 2 feet.

Doesn't the tag give a cultivar name?

I have lost the tag, what I am saying here is the best that I recall. Thanks.

Has it ever been fertilized in those 3 years?

Aha, I was fooled by the present tense: 'the tag says'.

I fertilized once, and possibly under fertilized...because I did not know the quantity used for that size of a barrel. Believe me, so far, under those conditions that i had previously mentioned, when its growing, it looks happy and blooms profusely. thanks

Anthony, I received 2 bare root plants about 3 weeks ago and planted them in the ground here in 9B, Central Coastal Florida. The tag only stated Variegated Weigela but the picture on the website looked intriguing so I ordered having no clue about them. They both have sprouted on a few stems. Right now they are in partial shade but soon we will have sun that hardly any plant can escape from. I identified a house plant picture you posted as an Umbrella Tree. Here it's grown outdoors and really has to be aggressively pruned. For some unknown reason I couldn't respond to that post a second time when you asked if I live in a subtropical climate so will answer here. Indeed I do.

Carol, it was I who asked if you lived in a sub tropical climate. Since you say you do your plant could very well be Schefflera arboricola. But a photo would confirm. I have no idea why you couldnt reply on the original post in the House Plants Forum. I've never known that happen before.

I'm not sure how well your Weigela will fare in Florida. It's a very hardy shrub which thrives in cool climates.

It is definitely the same plant. I was visiting Key Largo once and saw one so gigantic that I became very nervous knowing I had the same in my backyard. Since then I try to keep it pruned back.

Regarding the Weigela, supposedly it's hardy in zone 9. Don't know if I mentioned it but we had the hottest February on record; 85 to 90* everyday so perhaps that's why it's producing. Now we're experiencing a cooler than usual March. I used the mild weather to really plant the bare root items which is a new experience for me. I get so excited when the shrubs show signs of life.

The hardiness zones ONLY apply to winter cold temperatures - they do not address how hot or humid it might be in summer. So if winter hardy in zone 4 (for example), of course it would also be winter hardy in zone 9!! But the heat and humidity may very well influence how well the plant will perform the rest of the year. Weigelas grow wonderfully well here but we don't hit 85-90F for more than just a day or two in the middle of summer. And we have low humidity as well.

In that warm of climate, I'd place the shrub somewhere where it will receive some shade during the hottest part of the day.

gardengal, I planted it exactly as you said. I have a privacy fence and a large Bougainvillea which will help provide some shade and it isn't against the house but close enough that it will also help shade it. It will be a real test to see if it will survive our extreme heat and humidity. I have lots of new things planted already and it's amazing to see the growth already. So much more will be planted soon.

floral_uk, I hope you got to see my pictures of the Umbrella tree..

Also, not an issue with Weigela but some things need a certain number of hours of winter chill to perform well, flower, fruit or even survive. A reason that you can't grow a lot of conifers in coastal Southern California. Winter chill is defined as temps between 33 and a high number that I can't remember but is something like 45 degrees. No zonal system addresses this issue.