Contents
Among the most unpretentious and fast-growing shrubs, Japanese spirea cannot but stand out. This attractive ornamental shrub belongs to the Rosaceae family and is popular primarily due to its resistance to a variety of growing conditions.
Description of Japanese spirea
As the name implies, these plants come from Japan, although they are ubiquitous in China. The name of the plant means “bend” and, indeed, in most varieties of spirea, the shoots are very flexible, branched and grow at different angles. However, there are varieties of spirea with upright branches.
Natural species of Japanese spirea have an average height of 90 to 150 cm, but, thanks to the work of breeders, very miniature varieties have also been bred, literally 20-30 cm high.
Spirea attracts many gardeners not only for its abundant and long-term flowering. Most varieties have very elegant leaves. Moreover, they begin to dress up from the very moment of blooming, in the spring, when they are painted in various shades of orange, pink and red. In summer, many varieties of spirea have green leaves, but there are also those whose color remains yellow or golden. And in autumn, the foliage appears in all the splendor of the warm shades of the rainbow.
Spirea shoots also look very attractive. At a young age, they have felt pubescence, and with time they become smooth, but turn into purple-brown shades.
Spirea leaves can have a different shape: from oblong-lanceolate to oval-ovate. Along the edges of the leaves are usually teeth of various sizes.
Flowering of one shoot can last an average of about 1,5 months. Many varieties are capable of a repeated, although not so abundant, wave of flowering. For this, spirea only needs to be fed and trimmed withered inflorescences. Shades of flowers are usually located in the pink-red-violet range. And the flowers themselves are complex corymbose inflorescences slightly flattened in shape. Seeds are located in shiny capsules, about 2-2,5 mm long, which ripen perfectly in conditions.
Japanese spirea begins to bear fruit when it reaches 4 years of age, and the life expectancy of a shrub in one place is on average 15-18 years. Growing and caring for Japanese spirea is not particularly difficult.
Due to its unpretentiousness and frost resistance, spirea is actively used to decorate gardens and parks throughout almost the entire territory of Our Country from the European part to the Far East and in the north, up to the Polar regions. In especially cold winters, the above-ground, well-rooted part of the plants can freeze, but in the summer it has time to grow and even bloom.
Japanese spirea in garden design
Spirea is a very grateful plant and fits well into almost any landscape composition. It is also very attractive in it that from the moment the first leaves appear until the very frost, the decorative effect of the bush practically does not decrease. In spring and autumn, the bushes attract with their bright foliage, and during all the summer months they are decorated with delicate, airy-smoky or colorful flowers.
In addition, spireas are not picky about their neighbors, they feel good in any environment. They are not characterized by aggressive root shoots, while they are easy to propagate. And their good leafiness of the shoots makes it possible to use spireas to cover higher and bare shoots of other ornamental plants (mock orange, lilac, viburnum).
The smallest varieties of Japanese spirea are often used as single plantings in small rock gardens or to create a dense flowering carpet on vast expanses of rocky hills.
Plants of medium height feel good in various kinds of flower beds and mixborders, where they are successfully combined even with perennial flowers.
Spireas are surprisingly suitable for framing free-standing conifers and fit well into any composition with conifers.
But they look best in large groups, such as hedges or borders.
Japanese spirea hedge
Quite tall varieties of spirea, whose height reaches 80 cm or more, are most suitable for creating hedges: Sparkling Champagne, Frobeli, Fortunnei. Shrubs tolerate regular shearing well and are overgrown with plenty of greenery. But it should be understood that flowering in the case of a regular haircut will be relegated to the background, and it can only be expected next year. Therefore, this technique is suitable for more southern regions, where plants do not freeze much during the winter period.
Japanese spirea border
But almost any variety of Japanese spirea is suitable as a border. Bushes with a spherical shape of growth will look especially good. You can decorate garden paths with a border, make a border for a lawn, even carry out some zoning of territories.
You can use one variety of spirea or alternate varieties with different leaf colors. Or even with other suitable plants: action, turf.
Varieties of Japanese spirea
Breeders are actively working on breeding new varieties of Japanese spirea, and the vast majority of them are bred in countries near or far abroad. They differ mainly in height, the shape of the bushes, the flowering period, the color of the leaves and the shades in the color of the flowers.
Spiraea japonica Sparkling Champagne
In recent years, breeding has been developing especially intensively towards obtaining small, compact plant species. Spirea Sparkling Champagne is an exception. This shrub reaches a height of 100 cm and even higher, and its dense crown can grow up to 150 cm wide. The variety is ideal for creating hedges. Belongs to a very common group of spirea with constantly changing leaf color. In spring, young leaves of plants turn into a rich burgundy-orange color. By the summer they turn light green, and in the fall they begin to glow in various shades of yellow and red.
Spirea Sparkling Champagne blooms mainly in June-July.
The flowers themselves are pink-white, and the long stamens are with red anthers. If the inflorescences are cut off, then the plants may re-bloom closer to autumn.
Frobeli
Another rather tall variety of spirea, reaching 1 meter in height. On the example of a photo of its leaves with shoots, you can clearly see how the shade of their purple color changes from spring to autumn.
This is how the young shoots of the Frobeli spirea look like in the spring with the resulting inflorescences.
In the summer, already from June, the bushes of the Japanese spirea Frobeli are covered with large pink inflorescences up to 12 cm in diameter, and the foliage turns green.
And in the fall, the leaves of this variety of spirea acquire an even more interesting color.
During the year, shoots grow by about 10 cm. In addition, this variety is the most resistant to cold and undemanding to soils.
Japanese Spiraea Jenpei
This variety of Japanese spirea, one of the most interesting in terms of color of inflorescences, is also called Shirobana or tricolor spirea.
The height of the shrub is average, 60-80 cm, the shoots are reddish-brown, and the leaves do not change their shade during the growing season, they remain dark green all the time. But the inflorescences are distinguished by a truly original color – they can simultaneously contain flowers of white, pale pink and red shades. The flowering period of plants is slightly pushed closer to the second half of summer.
Spiraea japonica Manon
A variety of medium size (60-80 cm) with leaves that change their color three times a year, from reddening, through green, to rich orange-reddish. The crown is compact, spherical. The spirea variety Manon has an increased sensitivity to compacted soils and does not tolerate constant waterlogging. The variety is characterized by drought resistance.
Starting in July, lilac-pink flowers appear on the Manon spirea bushes.
Spirea Japanese Country Red
A variety characterized by green leaves during spring and summer and mostly upright shoots. The leaves turn yellow and red only in autumn. Spiraea Country Red does not grow to a height of more than 80 cm.
Deep pink flowers appear in July-August.
Anthony Waterer
Anthony Waterer is one of the most impressive inflorescence varieties of Japanese spirea. Inflorescences can reach a diameter of 15 cm and have a bright rich crimson color.
In height, bushes of this variety usually do not exceed 80 cm (they grow rather slowly), but a spherical crown can only be created through artificial pruning. Since the branches grow mostly straight and are very spread out in different directions.
Spiraea Anthony Waterer is frost-resistant, but the tips of the shoots can freeze slightly. However, the bushes are quickly restored, including due to root growth.
The leaves of this spirea are also decorative throughout the warm season, as they traditionally change color from spring to autumn.
Spirea Japanese Double Play
The Double Play series of spirea varieties includes several varieties at once.
- Double Play Artist
Fairly tall shrubs, reaching 90-100 cm in height and the same size in width. The variety is characterized by highly decorative foliage, which, as usual, changes three times a year, but by autumn it becomes purple-violet. Bright dark pink flowers bloom from early summer and can form until autumn, when faded inflorescences are removed.
- Double Play Big Bang
A variety of spirea with a unique foliage color that lacks green hues. In the spring the leaves are orange, in the summer they turn into a variety of yellowish hues, in order to turn red-orange in the fall. No less interesting is the flowering of these shrubs, which can last from June to August. The flowers themselves are large, pink in color. Spirea plants of this variety reach a height of 80 cm with a crown diameter of up to 100 cm.
- Double Play Gold
Small bushes (50-60 cm) with leaves of the original color, which changes during the season with all shades of yellow. Flowers appearing from the beginning of June are pink, medium in size.
Golden Princess
One of the most popular varieties of Japanese spirea among gardeners, in which the leaves on the shoots are not green, but yellow. In summer, the yellow tint fades slightly and becomes greenish, but in autumn it acquires a pronounced pink color.
It should be cut as soon as possible so as not to clog the purity of the bush.
The height of the Japanese Golden Princess spirea is about 1 m, it blooms in pink-lilac color.
Spiraea japonica Candlelight
Another notable variety of spirea, which lacks shoots with green leaves. In size, it can already be attributed to the dwarf varieties of Japanese spirea, since the bushes do not grow above 50 cm. But they grow up to 50-60 cm in width.
The young leaves of the Candlelight spirea have a creamy yellow hue, which turns bright yellow in summer. Against this background, small pink flowers (up to 8 cm in diameter) that bloom in mid-summer look attractive. In autumn, the leaves take on the traditional orange-red color.
Spirea Japanese Nana
The Japanese spirea variety Nana is already classified as a dwarf variety. Bushes no more than 50 cm high have a dense crown with a diameter of up to 80 cm. Plants are ideal for borders. The leaves traditionally change color from reddish to green and back to orange-red. The flowers also have a red-pink tint.
Magic Carpet
The variety is known as Walbuma, was bred in England and received its trade name (“Magic Carpet”) for the cushion-like dense appearance of the crown, which endlessly changes the shades of the leaves. In spring they are copper-red, in summer they become bright yellow. But such a shade appears only in bright sunlight, in partial shade the leaves become more of a golden-greenish color. Well, in the fall you can see a clear bias in the reddish-red color.
Spiraea Japanese MagicCarpet grows small, up to 50 cm in height, but it is widely spread over the diameter of the crown. The flowers are small, pink, formed from June to September. Despite their small size, the plants of this variety grow and develop quickly.
Japanese Spiraea Dwarf
The full name of the variety is Japanese Dwarf, which means “Japanese dwarf” in English. This is one of the smallest and slowest growing varieties of Japanese spirea. It reaches a height of only 30 cm, and every year its shoots grow by only 5 cm. It is characterized by abundant flowering from the beginning of summer. Japanese Spiraea Japanese Dwarf is a bit like the famous old Little Princess variety. The flowers are also small, pink, but do not fade in the sun.
Initially green oval-shaped leaves turn orange by autumn.
Japanese spirea planting
Although Japanese spirea plants are very unpretentious to growing conditions, proper planting in any case will ensure health for the seedling for many years and greatly facilitate its care.
Terms of planting
Shrubs can be planted both in spring and autumn. But for most regions of Our Country, spring planting is still preferable, since a young spirea seedling has a lot of time ahead to successfully take root and build up a good root system. And since the Japanese beauty blooms only in summer, she will have time to lay buds.
However, in the southern regions it is quite possible to plant spirea in the autumn. The main thing is to do it before the onset of frost.
Soil preparation for Japanese spirea
Plants do not impose any special requirements on the soil. Of course, in a fertile substrate, the splendor and duration of flowering will increase. In addition, it is better if the acidity is slightly increased. Therefore, if possible, you can add a little peat to the planting hole.
Seedling preparation
In order not to have further health problems with spirea plants, as well as to know exactly what to expect from them, you should purchase seedlings in garden centers, nurseries or specialized stores.
When buying spirea bushes with open roots, you need to carefully inspect them so that they are viable and not dry. Rotting or dry roots are cut with secateurs to a living place. Healthy roots are shortened by 20-30 cm before planting, and the seedlings are placed for several hours in a bucket of water.
The shoots should be elastic, bend well, and the buds should be alive. But fully bloomed leaves on the shoots are undesirable, since such seedlings take root worse.
Spirea seedlings with a closed root system are either watered abundantly, or also placed in a container of water to soak in moisture.
Rules of landing
It should be understood that the root system of the spirea is superficial and grows in width over a considerable distance. Therefore, between the bushes it is necessary to maintain a distance of at least 50 cm when planting.
A pit for planting is dug a little more than the volume of the roots of the seedling, it is desirable to make its walls sheer. If possible, it is better to let the dug hole stand for several days before planting. Then it is filled 5-7 cm with any kind of drainage (stones, broken bricks) and half with soil from the garden mixed with peat and sand.
The root system is lowered into the pit, straightened and sprinkled with the remaining soil mixture, lightly tamping. The root neck of the seedling should be directly at the level of the soil. After planting, the seedling is shed with 1-2 buckets of water.
How to care for Japanese spirea
Spirea care is simple and does not take much time. By and large, only seedlings in the first or second year after planting require special attention.
Watering and top dressing
Regular watering (1-2 times a month) is required only for seedlings in the first year after planting. About 15 liters of water are poured under one bush. In the future, plants are watered only in especially dry and hot weather, if it does not rain for more than a week in a row.
In the first year after planting, you can feed the seedling with a solution of mullein diluted in 10 liters of water. Synthetic fertilizers are applied starting from the second year of planting, usually in the period after pruning, to give additional strength to spirea plants.
How and when to prune Japanese spirea
All varieties of Japanese spirea belong to summer-flowering varieties. Therefore, pruning is most often done in the spring. In the first 3 years after planting, exclusively sanitary pruning of bushes is carried out, removing diseased, dry, frozen and weak branches in May. The first anti-aging, that is, cardinal, pruning is advised to be carried out no earlier than the fourth year of the seedling’s life, when it has time to take root well. In the fourth year in spring, it is recommended to prune Japanese spirea bushes low, at a distance of 30 cm above the ground. Then feed well. This will give the plant strength to form a luxurious flowering bush.
In the future, pruning is carried out depending on what is expected from the plants: flowering or creating a hedge or border. Once every two years, old shoots must be shortened, since flowering occurs only on young shoots of the current season.
Preparation for winter
Only seedlings of the first year of life and in regions where, simultaneously with severe frosts, low snow cover is observed, may need special protection against winter frosts. They need to be spud with earth and foliage, cover the lower part with geotextiles. In the future, all parts of the plants that are under the snow will be reliably protected from frost, and other freezing shoots are removed in the spring, and they quickly grow back.
Features of growing Japanese spirea in Siberia
Most of the varieties of spirea described above are quite adapted to the harsh conditions of Siberia. Indeed, for this shrub, the main thing is that during frosty winters a sufficient amount of snow falls.
Particularly frost-resistant are considered such varieties as:
- Alpine;
- reddish;
- naked;
- Little Princess;
- Frobeli;
- Firelight.
If in the European part of Our Country it is allowed to plant Japanese spirea in partial shade, then planting in Siberia is carried out exclusively in sunny places, where caring for it will not be complicated by other closely located plants. At the same time, they try not to be zealous with watering, especially if the summer is cold and cloudy.
Seedlings are planted exclusively in the spring, so that they have time to take root well before the onset of cold weather.
In regions with the most severe climate, it may even be necessary to warm the spirea bushes for the winter. Usually, the region of the near-stem circle is covered with sawdust or humus so that the layer thickness is at least 20 cm. The bushes themselves can be insulated with spruce branches and covered with non-woven material.
Japanese spirea bloom
Depending on the variety, spirea can bloom either in early June or early July. The flowering period on average lasts about 50 days. If you cut off faded inflorescences, then soon new ones will form on the bushes, and flowering can be extended until September. And in the southern regions until October.
How to propagate Japanese spirea
There are 4 main ways to propagate this shrub: cuttings, layering, seeds and dividing the bush. But for ordinary gardeners, only the first two methods have practical application. The last two are usually left to professionals.
Propagation of Japanese spirea by cuttings
It is easiest to propagate spirea with cuttings, because the rooting rate is about 70% even without the use of root formation stimulants. And with them it reaches 100%. Since semi-lignified shoots take root best, this process is usually carried out in autumn, in September or October. Having cut a strong shoot, divide it into several parts with 4-5 leaves on each.
The bottom sheet is removed completely, the rest is shortened by half the length. After soaking the lower cut for 2-3 hours in water, the cuttings are planted in a light substrate at an angle of 45 ° to a depth of 2 cm. They are placed in a shaded place, and for the winter they are covered with dry leaves and covered with a box. After a year, the cuttings can already be planted in a permanent place.
Reproduction by layers
It is even easier to propagate a Japanese guest using layering. True, in this case it is difficult to obtain a lot of planting material. In the spring, when the shoots grow, several branches are laid on the ground, sprinkled with soil and fixed with a stone or wire. The tip of the shoot should be visible – a peg is often tied to it. With regular watering of the laid shoots, they take root without problems by the next season.
Reproduction by seeds
It takes a lot of patience to propagate this shrub from seeds.
In addition, the seed method is not suitable for all varieties. Some hybrid forms cannot be grown using seeds – they reproduce only vegetatively. Spirea seeds do not need stratification – they can be sown at any time of the year. Usually they are sown on the surface of light soil, without covering, but only covering the boxes with sowing with glass or film. After the emergence of shoots, the film is removed. And when the sprouts reach a height of 2 cm, they can dive. A year later, the grown plants are planted in open ground, not forgetting to cover them for the winter.
Reproduction of Japanese spirea by dividing the bush
Spirea bushes can be divided in summer or early autumn. In summer, it is important to choose cloudy or rainy weather for the procedure.
The selected bush is dug in a circle, trying to capture most of the crown projection. Part of the roots, of course, will inevitably be damaged. They are carefully unraveled and divided into parts, each of which should have several strong stems and rhizomes. Sections of the roots are treated with crushed coal and each part is seated in a hole prepared in advance. In sunny weather, transplanted bushes are watered almost every other day.
Diseases and pests
Japanese spirea bushes usually exhibit high disease resistance and rarely suffer from pests. In hot and dry weather, spider mites can become active, sometimes young shoots and leaves can suffer from the invasion of aphids or leafworm caterpillars.
You should first fight them with folk methods, spraying the bushes with a solution of tobacco dust, or infusions of garlic and tomato tops. In extreme cases, acaricidal preparations are used – against ticks, and insecticides – against aphids and caterpillars.
Conclusion
Japanese spirea is easy to care for, unpretentious in terms of growth, a very decorative and functional plant. Growing it is easy even for a beginner, and a variety of varieties will help you make the right choice.
