Spirea, a Great Shrub for PG
By Jos Van Hage
Flowering shrubs are a colorful addition to any landscape. There are numerous types and varieties that grow well in our region including the ‘Spirea’.
Spireas have nice looking foliage, pretty flowers and nicely shaped bushes. The foliage comes in varying shades of green as well as light gold and yellow and flowers are either white or pink. Whatever variety you plant they look good in either mass plantings or singularly.
There are several different varieties that grow well in our area. There are the early blooming varieties, which have the white flowers, and the later blooming varieties that have pink flowers. The white flowered varieties are pruned right after they have finished blooming, and the later pink varieties are pruned in the spring before the leaves appear. On the later blooming pink varieties you should prune off the finished flowers and the plant will promote a second flush of blooms.
A beautiful white flowering Spirea is the ‘Bridal Wreath’ or ‘VanHoutte’ which can grow up to 6 feet tall and wide and has nice looking foliage which is blue/green. A smaller variety is the ‘Snow Mound’ which grows from 3-5 feet tall and wide and has a dark green leaf. They are very beautiful when in full bloom as they have clusters of white flowers on long arching branches.
The later pink flowering varieties include ‘Anthony Waterer’, ‘Goldflame’, ‘Magic Carpet’, and ‘Goldmound’. Goldflame. Magic Carpet, and Goldmound have yellow/gold leaves and Anthony Waterer has green/bronze leaves. One other variety worth mentioning is the ‘Shirobana’ which has different colored flowers on the same plant. It can have light pink, dark pink and white flowers blooming all at the same time. The leaves are also different colored with varying shades of greens from dark to light. The plant grows 2-3 feet wide and tall.
Plant Spireas in full sun to partial shade. The more shade the plant receives means that the leaves will loose their color and the plant will become thin and leggy with fewer flowers. Spireas are rarely bothered by pests or disease, making them an excellent choice for low maintenance landscapes as all they really require is some pruning. Fertilize the plants in spring when the plant shows growth and then again in early summer with 8-20-20. You want to use a fertilizer that has a lower first number (nitrogen) so that it will produce lots of flowers.
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Posted by: Simple Simon on July 15 2006 7:02 PM
This is true but to grow it in Prince George is qustionable. It will only survive in a Zone 4 growing area and Prince George is a Zone 3. I have grown VanHoute at Trail BC but the new growth would always freeze back each winter here in Prince George.
As for Gold Flame it is also a zone 4 shrub and last winter was the first winter that my four year old shrubs did not freeze back as they had in the previous three winters . I was ready to dig and toss this spring but since they survived they have one more chance.
Some Zone 4 shrubs will survive a Prince George winter if they are wrapped or covered with snow if there is enough early in the winter. I grow rhododendrons which are a zone 4 shrub but I cover them each fall to survive. Those that are not covered the new growth will freeze back each winter consequently there will be no flowers.
I am currently trying to get my Minnisota Snowflake Moch Orange to flower.I have had it for four years and each year the most of the new growth will freeze back. So it wll never flower. It is also a zone 4 shrub that I bought localy. Its just not worth it to cover all my shrubs. There is only one Mock Orange that will survive in Prince George and that is the Philadephus Virginal and the nursuries don't bother to bring it here. Has lovely white flower that is very aromatic.
I am not a horticulturalist but I have been gardening in Prince George for 35 years and I have found that the nursery stock sold are often for zones 4 and 5 or more. And this applies to all the nurserys in Prince George. Its a real rippoff for the gardener. They will take them home and after the first winter they are dead.
So Jos clean up your act and start selling Zone 3 shrubs for people to grow in their gardens
Cheers.