Name: Spirea japonica aka Japanese Spirea
Type of Plant: A very hardy shrub for full to part sun that flowers in June and is available in a wide variety of foliage colors and sizes.
Why I Love This Plant: This is a tough plant that thrives in drier soils and windy locations as well as in common garden conditions. There are SO many varieties available, from tiny, rounded shrubs to those that grow 4 feet tall. There are types with green foliage, and golden foliage. Some have light pink flowers and some dark pink…there’s even one variety where the flowers begin one color and age to another, making it look like there are pale pink, medium pink and white flowers on the same plant.
A Word to the Wise: Pick the variety that is right for your garden, both in size and in foliage color. (Note – assume that the shrub will grow a bit taller and wider than the tags suggest.)
Know that many of these can self-seed, which might become a problem in some landscapes. This is fairly easily remedied by shearing the plant right after it finishes flowering, then raking up the faded blooms you cut off. This not only prevents self-seeding, but it removes the browned flowers and promotes new growth of foliage for August.
Some varieties of this shrub have dark pink flowers and green foliage.
Others have pale pink blooms that are smaller in size.
Magic Carpet and some of the Double Play varieties have golden foliage with coral new growth in the spring.
In the garden center I spotted Lill Flirt Spirea next to Magic Carpet.
