Summer Spiraea

Deciduous spiraeas, especially Spiraea japonica, are flowering shrubs that bloom from June to August on the current year's branches and should be pruned at the end of winter. Their flowers are usually pink (but rarely white, unlike spring-flowering spireas). With a beautiful rounded habit and not very tall, these deciduous shrubs are perfect for creating a low flowering hedge or in pots. The Japanese spirea 'Anthony Waterer' which blooms in June-July and again in September, is undoubtedly the most famous and most planted variety. While some can form a large bush of 2 metres (7 feet) in all directions like Spiraea billardii, the majority of summer spireas do not exceed 1.20 metres (4 feet) in height. Some cultivars have white flowers, such as the birch-leaved spirea 'Tor' or the Spiraea japonica 'Albiflora'. For small gardens and containers there are charming dwarf varieties with long summer flowering: let's mention the dwarf Japanese spirea 'Nana', which only reaches 50 cm (20in) at maturity, with its spreading habit and clusters of bright pink flowers that look wonderful on the terrace. Hardy, Spireas grow in ordinary, compact soil, even slightly chalky, in sun or partial shade.