Japanese spiraea: varieties and species

Garden designers often use decorative shrubs like spiraea for their own purposes. They are great for hedges and for zoning the garden. Spirea belongs to the Rosaceae family, and there are at least 90 species. And the queen of these plants is Japanese spiraea, whose varieties will adorn any garden.

Wild Japanese spirea, varieties and photos

In the wild, it can be found in the mountainous regions of Japan and China. Growing in natural conditions, this shrub reaches a height of 1.5 meters. He has a lot of thin twisting shoots. A spirea leaves have an elliptical or ovoid shape and a sharp end. During blossoming, they acquire a reddish-brown tinge. Then they turn green, and in autumn they are again painted in golden and reddish colors. This property of spirea leaves was filled with colorful flowers used by breeders. They managed to breed varieties that have a stable bright color of leaves throughout the summer season. Still spiraea Japanese - the record holder for the duration of flowering, it blooms from late June to early autumn. And its flowers have a reddish-pink color and are collected in corymbose inflorescences with a diameter of 3 to 30 centimeters, depending on the variety.

Japanese spirea, sort of Golden Princess

These shrubs live in a variety of natural conditions. And this circumstance contributed to the fact that nature itself, without the intervention of breeders, created many of its varieties. And then the specialists only added this assortment. And one of the famous varieties of Japanese spirea is the Golden Princess. This shrub reaches 50 cm in height and 1 m in width. It looks like a dense bright yellow mound, and its flowers have a light pink color. They are collected in the corymbose inflorescence of a small (3-6 centimeters) diameter. The leaves of the Golden Princess have a reddish color, then they turn yellow and remain golden throughout the season.

Little Japanese Spirea, Little Princess

Another "princess" from the genus of Japanese spirea grows in the form of a compact half-meter bush, whose diameter reaches 1.2 meters. It has small dark green leaves and pink-red flowers growing in the corymbose inflorescences. This variety blooms in the second half of summer and continues to bloom for about 45-50 days. Designers are often used for compositions with coniferous plants and for mixed groups it is this spiraea. Fortuna Fort is one of the highest. Its bushes reach 1.7 meters. They are overgrown with strong shoots, the inflorescences and leaves of Fortune are also large. And this spiraea blooms from June to August.

Billard's Spirea

Well, Billard's spirea is a hybrid of the dove and Douglas. This is a fairly winter-hardy species, which in cultural terms occurs from Central Asia and the Caucasus in the south to Arkhangelsk in the north. This is a shrub with sprawling branches, reaching a height of two meters. Leaves are broadly lanceolate, ten centimeters long. And the flowers of Billard spiraea have a bright pink color. They are collected in dense pyramidal, narrow, paniculate inflorescences up to 20 centimeters long. This spirea blooms in the second half of the summer and blossoms until frost.