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  • Home
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  • Roses
    • Types of Roses
    • Easy Roses
    • Climbing Roses
    • Portland's Rose Test Garden
    • Rose Insects & Diseases
    • Pruning Roses
    • Rose Sawfly
    • Rose Bloom Balling
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    • Prune Your Own Garden Registration
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    • Taming Tomatoes
    • Speeding up Tomato Harvest
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    • Saving Tomato Seeds
    • Tomato Troubles
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    • Autumn Crocus
    • Bear's Breeches
    • Beautyberry, Callicarpa
    • Black-eyed Susans
    • Bleeding Heart, Lamprocapnos spectabilis
    • Calla Lilies
    • Dahlias
    • Daylily
    • Delphiniums
    • Devil's Walking Stick, Aralia spinosa
    • Dwarf Alberta Spruce
    • Dwarf Burning Bush
    • Elderberries, Sambucus
    • Evergreen Clematis
    • English Daisies
    • Fall Asters
    • Flowering Currants
    • Flowering Quince
    • Fritillaria
    • Garden Peonies
    • Garden Phlox
    • Ginkgo biloba
    • Grape-hyacinths
    • Handkerchief or Dove Tree
    • Harry Lauder's Walking Stick
    • Heathers
    • Hellebores, Lenten roses
    • Himalayan Sweet Box
    • Hydrangeas, Mophead & Lacecap
    • Jack-in-the-pulpit, Cobra Lily
    • Japanese Anemones
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    • Pink Dawn Bodnant Viburnum
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Japanese Spireas
July's Plant of the Month 2023

A Colourful Staple For Every Garden

Double Play Big Bang Japanese spirea Proven Winners
Double Play Big Bang Japanese spirea bears large flowers and chartreuse coloured foliage.
Japanese spirea
Japanese spireas are perfect shrubs for urban gardens.
Picture
Peak flowering time is from June into July.
Spiraea japonica
Flowers appear on the ends of new stems.
Picture
When not pruned and thinned, plants have fewer and smaller flowers.
element_settings.Image_30621876.default
A Goldflame spirea lives up to its name.
Picture
The many stamens make the flowers look fuzzy.
shrub colourful new foliage in spring
Raindrops appear as diamonds on colourful spring leaves.
Picture
Anthony Waterer spirea is a reliable and common spirea dating back to the 1800's.
Anthony Waterer spirea
New flowers and foliage on an Anthony Waterer spirea.
corymb flowers
Flowers are held in flat clusters called corymbs.
Picture
Japanese meadowsweet is the original species without the help from plant breeders.
Common Name:  Japanese spirea, Japanese meadowsweet
Botanical Name:  Spiraea japonica
Form:   round to vase shaped
Family:  Rosaceae
Genus:  Spiraea
Species:  japonica
Plant Type: deciduous shrub
Mature Size:  4 - 6 ft x 5 - 7 ft
Growth: fast
Origin:  China, Japan
Hardiness Zone: 3 to 8
Foliage:  up to 3” long, oval, serrated, fall and spring colours, green in summer
Flowers: flat topped clusters (corymbs) of tiny pink flowers June with repeat blooms
Fruit: small seeds held in capsules
Exposure:  sun, light shade
Soil:  soil tolerant, prefers moist loams
Uses:  massing, accent, rock gardens, shrub border, hedge, foundation plantings, containers, small gardens, formal, informal, cottage
Attracts: butterflies, bees
Maintenance: low, easy care, durable
Tolerates: clay soil, air pollution, deer, erosion
Invasive Tendencies: Eastern USA
Propagation: potential to self seed, may sucker
Pruning:   remove spent flowers, prune late winter, early spring
​Problems:  no serious issues

Comments: 
Japanese spireas are little shrubs known for their flat pink flower clusters. They are a common shrub and a favourite of many gardeners because they are a nice size, reliable bloomers, are easy care and love the sun. Japanese spireas are often used around the foundation of houses as they don’t get obnoxious.
 
Note that the species Japanese spireas, also referred to as Japanese meadowsweet, send out suckers, which maybe problematic if there isn't adequate space. They are considered an invasive species in Eastern US.  Cultivated varieties and hybrids are not as prone to suckering.
 
Pollinators, especially butterflies and bees, love to rest on their flat flowers while they sip nectar and gather pollen. The initial flowering period starts in June and continues for about a month depending on the weather. Sporadic flowers occur during the summer, however, to encourage lots of new flowers, remove spent flowers asap.
 
Japanese spireas are dense shrubs with many stems. Each stem produces a flower on new growth so if there are many stems there are many flowers, but they will be small. To increase the size of the blossom clusters, thin spireas in late winter or early spring. Remove all crossing, weak and old stems.
 
Cultivars
Plant breeders have surpassed themselves when it comes to creating cultivars that are not only grown for their flowers, but for their foliage. Proven Winner’s Double Play Big Bang one of numerous stellar Japanese spirea cultivars. The Double Play moniker denotes that there is more to this cultivar than the species.  The flower clusters are bigger, pinker, with orangey-red spring foliage that matures to a chartreuse. The bright pink flowers are accentuated by the contrasting yellow-green foliage. In autumn, the leaves changes colour once again to a brick red. It grows 2 to 3 feet (60-90 cm) tall and wide.
 
Anthony Waterer spirea (Spiraea X bumulda 'Anthony Waterer') has been around since the late 1800’s. It’s popularity is due to it’s compact and dense growth. It’s the perfect size for urban gardens as it grows from 2-3ft tall and 3-4ft wide. Six-inch flattened flower clusters (corymbs) bear deep carmine red flowers. New foliage is red with a purple tinge, which ages to a bluish-green in summer then turns a brick red in autumn.
 
Spiraea japonica ‘Goldflame’ formerly S. x bumalda 'Goldflame' bears rose-pink flowers on arching stems. Reblooms after deadheading. It grows 2 to 3ft tall and wide. Bronze-red leaves emerge in spring, mature to green then turn yellowish copper in autumn. It’s more sprawling with irregular growth compared to other cultivars and hybrids.
 
There are many spirea cultivars available so do your research, read the labels and include at least one of these reliable, low care pretty shrub in your garden. 
plants for pollinators flowers
Bees & butterflies love the flowers.
colourful autumn plants
The autumn colours of a Goldflame spirea.
Picture
Fall colours don't disappoint.
Japanese meadowsweet
Japanese meadowsweet is larger and tends to roam compared to cultivars and hybrids.

pruning spireas
Cut back plants to remove their spent blossoms right after flowering.
pruning spiraeas
A spirea in late winter needs some pruning.
Picture
A spirea after deadheading.
when to prune spireas
All spindly stems and crossing branches have been removed and the plant has been cut back.
Picture
Removing old and small stems will increase flower size.

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  • Home
  • About, Services, Contact
  • Ask Amanda
  • Roses
    • Types of Roses
    • Easy Roses
    • Climbing Roses
    • Portland's Rose Test Garden
    • Rose Insects & Diseases
    • Pruning Roses
    • Rose Sawfly
    • Rose Bloom Balling
  • Pruning Basics 101
    • Pruning Tools
    • Winter Pruning
    • Pruning Grapes
    • Pruning Clematis
    • Prune Your Own Garden Registration
  • Lawn Basics
    • Lawn Reno, Seed & Sod
    • Lawn Maintenance Schedule
    • Spring Lawn Care
    • Moss in Lawns
    • Lawn Alternatives
    • Lawn Grub Control
  • Mulch & Mulching
    • Living Mulches - Groundcovers
  • Propagation
    • Growing Seeds Outdoors
    • Growing Seeds Indoors
    • Taking Cuttings
    • Seed & Plant Catalogues
  • How to Garden Topics
    • Fall Garden Chores
    • Planting Know-How
    • Soil Building
    • Watering Tips & Techniques
    • Drought Gardening
    • Sheet Mulching, Lasagna Gardening
    • Cover Crops
    • Composting
    • Compost Tea
    • Houseplant Winter Care
    • Hummingbirds in Winter
    • Winterize Your Garden
    • Ponds in Winter
  • Growing Food
    • Spring Veggie Gardening
    • Fall Veggie Garden Clean-up
    • Crop Rotation, Succession & Companion Planting
    • Harvesting
    • Growing Potatoes
    • Winter Veggie Gardening
    • Taming Tomatoes
    • Speeding up Tomato Harvest
    • Tomato Tips
    • Saving Tomato Seeds
    • Tomato Troubles
  • Plant Pests 1
    • Plant Pests Part 2 - Controlling Insects
    • Garden Inspections
    • Helping Pollinators
    • Brown Marmorated Stink Bug
    • Dogwood Anthracnose
    • Viburnum Leaf Beetle
    • Dormant Oil/Lime Sulfur
    • Japanese Beetles
    • Peony Blotch/Measles
    • Slugs & Snails
    • Horsetail, the Weed
    • June Beetle
    • Powdery Mildew
    • Soil Solarization
    • Rhododendron Leaf Spot
    • Plant Rusts
    • Black Knot
  • Container Growing
    • Choosing a Container
  • Feeding Plants 101
    • Fertilizers & Ratios
    • Nutritional Deficiencies & Toxicities
    • Organic Plant Food
  • Plant of the Month
    • Spring Flowering Bulbs
    • Colourful Fall Plants
    • Abelia
    • American Sweetgum
    • Ash (Fraxinus) Trees
    • Astilbes
    • Azaleas, Deciduous
    • Aubretia, Rock Cress
    • Aucuba, Japanese Spotted Laurel
    • Autumn Crocus
    • Bear's Breeches
    • Beautyberry, Callicarpa
    • Black-eyed Susans
    • Bleeding Heart, Lamprocapnos spectabilis
    • Calla Lilies
    • Dahlias
    • Daylily
    • Delphiniums
    • Devil's Walking Stick, Aralia spinosa
    • Dwarf Alberta Spruce
    • Dwarf Burning Bush
    • Elderberries, Sambucus
    • Evergreen Clematis
    • English Daisies
    • Fall Asters
    • Flowering Currants
    • Flowering Quince
    • Fritillaria
    • Garden Peonies
    • Garden Phlox
    • Ginkgo biloba
    • Grape-hyacinths
    • Handkerchief or Dove Tree
    • Harry Lauder's Walking Stick
    • Heathers
    • Hellebores, Lenten roses
    • Himalayan Sweet Box
    • Hydrangeas, Mophead & Lacecap
    • Jack-in-the-pulpit, Cobra Lily
    • Japanese Anemones
    • Japanese Forest Grass
    • Japanese Maples
    • Japanese Skimmia
    • Japanese spirea
    • Japanese Spurge
    • Laurustinus viburnum
    • Lavenders
    • Lily-of-the-Valley Shrub, Pieris japonica
    • Mediterranean Spurge
    • Mexican Mock Orange
    • Montana Clematis
    • Mountain Ash
    • Oriental Poppies
    • Oriental Lilies
    • Paperbark Maple
    • Pink Dawn Bodnant Viburnum
    • Poinsettias
    • Oregon Grape Holly
    • Ornamental Kale
    • Peruvian Lily, Alstroemeria
    • Phalaenopsis, Moth Orchids
    • Persian Silk Tree
    • Portuguese Laurel
    • Rose of Sharon
    • Shrubby Cinquefoil
    • Sneezeweed, Helenium
    • Snowberry
    • Snowdrops
    • Star Magnolia
    • Strawberry Tree, Pacific Madrone
    • Stewartia
    • Torch Lily, Kniphofia uvaria
    • Tree Peonies
    • Tuberous Begonias
    • Virginia Creeper
    • Weigela
    • Winterhazel, Corylopsis
    • Winter Camellia, C. sasanqua
    • Wintergreen, Gaultheria procumbens
    • Witch Hazel
    • Wood Anemones
    • Yews
  • Garden Tours & Such
    • South Delta Garden Club Tour 2023
  • Monthly Flower Arrangements
  • Website Index
  • Subscribe
  • Need Help?
  • Garden Club Events