Spirea: types and varieties, photo, description

gardeners, professionals and amateurs, looking at the photo and description of the spirea shrub, set out to purchase and plant a seedling on their site. The variety of varieties and species, ease of care for them – these are the main criteria that allow spirea to occupy a leading position in the market of ornamental plants.

What does spirea look like

The history of the appearance of the shrub has its roots in ancient Greece, where it got its name, literally meaning “spiral”.

Spiraea or in common parlance meadowsweet is a deciduous shrub from 15 cm to 2,5 m (sometimes up to 3 m) in height with creeping, erect, spread or lying branches. The bark of the shrub is characterized by longitudinal flaking.

The variety of forms of the meadowsweet leaf plate is due to a specific variety or species. Meadowsweet leaves are:

• petiolate;
• regular;
• three-bladed;
• five-bladed;
• lanceolate;
• rounded.

The peduncles of the shrub also have differences, depending on the shape, structure and type. The resulting inflorescences can take various forms:

• guards;
• ears of corn;
• pyramids;
• panicles.

The color palette of flowering spireas is also incredibly rich – from virgin white to deep crimson, located along the entire branch or only at its end.

Root formation in the meadowsweet passes quite quickly, due to the easy survival and unpretentiousness of the shrub. The roots do not go deep, but are located more in a horizontal plane, closer to the surface of the soil, and have a fibrous shape.

Absolutely any methods are suitable for breeding meadowsweet:

1. Generative – propagation by seeds.
2. Vegetative – propagation by layering, dividing the bush and cuttings.

Unpretentiousness, stress resistance and the possibility of shrub formation – these are the most important factors for which meadowsweet and landscape designers fell in love.

Varieties of spirea

The meadowsweet genus has from 80 to 100 varieties, which are divided among themselves according to the timing of flowering:

1. Spring flowering.
2. Summer flowering.
3. Autumn flowering.

Depending on the timing of appearance, the color of the peduncles also differs:

• in spring-flowering flowers are painted in various shades of white;
• in summer-flowering inflorescences, the color of inflorescences varies from snow-white to red-pink;
• in autumn-blooming, purple colors predominate.

Many gardeners believe that spirea is an excellent honey plant. This opinion is true, but only half – it attracts bees with its aroma only in part, because it blooms during the period of mass flowering of other honey plants. It is safe to say that spire honey does not exist in nature, but when purchasing acacia honey, you can be sure that meadowsweet pollen is also present in it.

Types and varieties of spirea

Meadowsweet shrubs are so diverse in their appearance, forms and number of hybrids that each species and variety should be described in more detail.

White spirea

Named Spiraea albiflora or white spirea is quite justified, due to the presence of virgin white flower stalks on it. Their appearance is more like 15 cm pyramidal panicles.

The main habitat of this species is North America, and in Our Country in natural conditions it can be found extremely rarely.

The shrub grows slowly and only after 10 years can reach 2 m in height, while acquiring a spherical shape. This is due to the flexibility of the shoots, the ribbed shape and red-purple color, the location of the flower stalks that are located at the ends of the shoots.

The leaf plate has curly shapes, thanks to well-defined notches and rather large sizes, 7 cm long and 2 cm wide.

In terms of flowering, white meadowsweet can be attributed to autumn-flowering, since flower stalks appear towards the end of July and last until the end of August. This variety of meadowsweet is able to form fruits, and their appearance begins from the end of September or the beginning of October.

Meadowsweet white, in their opinion, is great for both solitary and combined landscape projects.

White meadowsweet is not only a variety, but also a species. Spireas also belong to white-flowering shrubs:

• Vangutta (Spiraea x vanhouttei);
• nipponskaya (spirea Rainbow Girls);
• Тунберга (Spiraeathunbergii);
• gray (Spiraea x cinerea).

These varieties are united by the presence of white peduncles, and the fact that they are all early-flowering spireas.

Spirea pink

The decorative appearance of the shrub is due to the relatively small height, and we can safely say that this is a bush spirea. An adult formed bush reaches 1,5 m in height and forms a crown 1,5 m in circumference. Shoots located strictly vertically can grow by 20 cm in a year.

Leaf plates look like a 10-centimeter ellipse in the color of bright spring greens. Judging by the name, the flower stalks are painted in soft pink tones and look like lush panicles.

Of all the variety of meadowsweet varieties, it is pink that is most resistant to low winter temperatures. This factor was the main reason for the popularity of meadowsweet pink among Siberian gardeners.

Pink-flowering shrubs, as well as white-flowering ones, include the following varieties of spirea:

• Japanese (more than 20 species);
• macrophylla;
• loose leaf;
• Douglas;
• In Bumal.

Spiraea Candelight, which belongs to the group of Japanese miniature spireas, deserves special attention.

This shrub is very compact and slow growing. At the age of 5, it reaches a maximum size of 0,5 m in height and width. The leaf plates are yellow in color with a slight creamy tint; rather large corymbs of pinkish inflorescences up to 8 cm in diameter stand out against their background from June to August.

This type of spirea blooming all summer has gained respect among landscape designers. It is one of the few varieties that do an excellent job with the polluted air of urban conditions and with severe winter frosts.

Spiraea yellow

The name meadowsweet “yellow” is due to the color of the leaf plates of the shrub. Some species do not change it throughout the season, while in others the color of the leaf plate changes from bright yellow to fiery orange.

The yellow-leaved species include spireas:

• Goldflame;
• Gold Mount;
• Golden Princess;
• Sparkling Carpet;
• Golden Carpet;
• Valbuma (Magic Carpet);
• Fire Light;
• Golden Fountain.

Spirea average

Spiraeamedia or medium spirea is a tall shrub reaching 3 m. The natural area of ​​uXNUMXbuXNUMXbdistribution is the Eurasian temperate zone.

Branches growing strictly upwards form a rounded crown. The leaf plate has a slight pubescence and resembles an elongated pointed ellipse with notches along the edges of a green-yellow color.

Meadowsweet average blooms only for 5 years, forming white corymbs with flowers, evenly spaced on a branch with a distance of 3-4 cm between them. Flowering begins in mid-May and ends by early June.

A distinctive feature of this variety of meadowsweet are:

• frost resistance;
• drought tolerance;
• gas resistance.

The combination of these factors makes it possible to use meadowsweet medium for landscaping parks, gardens and flower beds of any city and industrial enterprises.

Spiraea rowanberry

The spirea shrub got its name because of the leaf plates resembling mountain ash, and sometimes people call this variety simply “field ash”.

At a younger age of the shrub, the color of the leaves is closer to pink, and as they grow older, it changes to a bright green color.

The meadowsweet rowan-leaved blooms from June to September, with beautiful, fragrant, white pyramids-panicles up to 25 cm in length.

This species is endowed by nature with an excellent root system, which allows planting shrubs on loose cliffs in order to strengthen the soil on the slope.

The variety of varietal forms of this species allows the use of shrubs in landscaping. In group plantings, rowan-leaved spirea looks great with euonymus, derain, weigela and conifers.

Spiraea Kalinolistny

Judging from the name, you can immediately imagine a shrub of this species. It is thanks to the resemblance to viburnum leaves that this name has become popular among the people. This variety of meadowsweet has up to 10 species. Several of them, in addition to viburnum-shaped leaves, form inflorescences, from afar resembling clusters of viburnum.

The meadowsweet shrub is quite large and can reach 4 m in height. The decorativeness of the bush depends entirely on the color of the leaf plates, which can be:

• colors of spring greens or a yellow-lemon shade;
• burgundy, scarlet or orange.

Spiraea hornate

Spiraeacrenata or spirea crenate cannot boast of high growth, at the maximum it reaches only a meter height, while forming a rather loose crown shape. The southeast of the Federation, the Caucasus region and Altai – only in the climatic conditions of these regions can the meadowsweet be seen in natural growing conditions.

The leaf plate is elongated, reaching a size of 5 cm, it is distinguished by a green color with a slight ashy coating. Sometimes, due to the similarity in the color of the leaf plates, this variety is confused with the Gerstein spirea and the Oakleaf spirea.

Peduncles, white with a slight yellowness, appear by mid-July for only 3 weeks in the form of a small umbrella.

This plant rarely appears on personal plots, but for landscape designers, meadowsweet has become a godsend.

Spirea japonica Dwarf

This shrub variety belongs to curb spireas, since even in adulthood the growth of the plant does not exceed 30 cm.

Peduncles have a pale pink color and are located at the tops of the branches. The shrub is able to please the first flowers by mid-June, and by the end of July, flower stalks that look like small saucers disappear.

The leaf plate of the shrub only by the fall changes the “green dress” to the “orange sundress”. It was this feature that made it possible to draw the attention of landscape designers to the Japaniz Dwarf bush.

The same ability to change the color of the leaf plate is also present in the Magnum Rose spirea. But it is impossible to confuse them with each other, since the Magnum Rose shrub is not stunted, its height reaches 120 cm in height, and the Japaniz Dwarf shrub can be described as a creeping spirea.

Spirea Manon

The beauty of the compact meadowsweet shrub Manon lies in the varied color of the leaf plate. The bush is quite small in height and width, 80 and 60 cm, respectively. Throughout the season, the color of the leaves can change:

• blooming, the leaves are painted in reddish tones;
• in summer the color changes to emerald green;
• in autumn, the leaves turn red-orange crimson.

Meadowsweet Manon can be attributed to the autumn-flowering varieties, since the pale pink shields of inflorescences delight the eye throughout the summer and autumn months. The shields are located on the tops of the branches, which gives the shrub a regular rounded shape, and from afar it becomes like a pink ball.

Gardeners noted a great similarity in size, color of leaves and peduncles between the Zigunerblut and Manon spirea. This sometimes leads to some confusion.

Spiraea densely flowered

The meadowsweet received this name because of the dense and rather large corymbs-inflorescences of pink color, capable of reaching 10-12 cm in diameter. The shrub itself is not very tall and is able to grow only 80 cm, while the crown diameter will be at least a meter.

The color of the leaf plates by autumn changes from emerald green to fiery orange.

The variety of the Japanese multi-colored spirea Shirobana, which has dense shields of two-color inflorescences, can be attributed to the type of densely flowered meadowsweet.

Spirea Sparkling Champagne

A relatively low shrub of this variety is able to decorate the garden with almost all the colors of the rainbow throughout the growing season. In spring, the leaf plate is painted in red-pink tones, which, closer to summer, become similar to the color of lime. Peduncles look like small clusters located at the ends of the branches, and keep throughout the summer.

The growth of the shrub does not exceed 80 cm, and because of this it has gained popularity among landscape designers.

Spiraea cantona

This shrub is able to grow up to 180 cm. But the main beauty lies in the drooping branches that can form a spherical crown. In June, the Cantonese meadowsweet looks like a snow-white ball, thanks to the lush medium-sized shields of peduncles.

Spiraea red-leaved

The red color of the leaf plates boasts a shrub of the Frobeli variety, which is most often called red-leaved meadowsweet.

In spring, the leaf plate is painted in purple mother-of-pearl, in summer it changes color to brilliant green, and by autumn the foliage is transformed, from afar, the shrub becomes like a burning fire.

The bush blooms throughout the summer and in September, covered with crimson peduncles.

Spirea sharp-toothed

The shrub got its name because of the beautiful shape of the carved leaf plates – the edges of the elliptical leaves have clearly defined notches. Most often it is called “Argutta”. The shrub is tall, capable of reaching 200 cm in height and 300 cm in width. And drooping branches with snow-white peduncles make the shrub look like a waterfall. Sometimes Arguttu is confused with the water spirea due to the similarity of the branches and the color of the peduncles.

Spiraea Pink Spakler can also be classified as sharp-toothed, since its leaf plate is very similar to the leaves of Argutta.

Spirea paniculata

A tall shrub capable of reaching 200 cm in height, it is unusually beautiful during flowering. The lilac peduncles that appeared in the spirea look like large panicles up to 20 cm in height, which was the reason for the name “paniculate”.

Paniculate inflorescences have a lot of spirea, in which the peduncles differ in the color of the inflorescences – white, pink or lilac. These include Billard’s meadowsweet and willow-leaved meadowsweet.

Spirea June Bride

The shrub belongs to the Nippon spirea variety. Sometimes in the descriptions you can find the name of the shrub, like “Spirea Junia Bright.”

The bush is medium, reaching 150 cm in height and diameter. Two-color sheet plate:

• above – the color of saturated greens;
• below – smoky-ashy shade.

Peduncles appear in the spring in the second decade of May and stay on the bush until mid-June, decorating the bush with small corymbs of milky flowers.

Meadowsweet June Bride is resistant to air pollution and is able to decorate any garden plot with its presence. An important factor is the shade tolerance of the spirea of ​​uXNUMXbuXNUMXbthis variety.

Spiraea Mount

A shrub called “Mount” is more popular under the name “Gold Mount”. This name was given to the plant because of the color scheme of the leaves, which can change color, depending on the planting site:

• in sunny areas, the color is golden with a yellow hue;
• in the shade, the foliage turns only emerald green.

Despite its miniature growth, which does not exceed 60 cm, the plant has a rather chic cushion-shaped crown, reaching 120 cm in diameter. Regardless of the landing site, by autumn the leaf plate changes color to fiery red.

Pale pink flower stalks appear in July, and by October the shrub enters the fruiting phase.

Spirea Neon Flash

A shrub 90 cm high is able to change the color of the leaf plate three times per season:

1. In spring, the color is closer to red.
2. In summer, it turns to emerald green.
3. Plays with red crimson in autumn.

Peduncles delight the eye throughout the summer, and after the formative pruning, meadowsweet Neon Flash is able to show new fiery red thyroid inflorescences by the end of September.

Spiraea pygmy

The shrub is a hybrid that was obtained by crossing Hacket’s spirea and creeping. The height of the plant never exceeds 0,3 m and is considered to be a ground cover. Of all the variety of varieties and species, dwarf meadowsweet is the only variety of such low growth.

Despite all the attractiveness, this plant has not received much distribution and popularity among gardeners.

Spiraea

Meadowsweet is one of the tallest shrubs of this family, capable of growing up to 3 m in height. For the similarity of leaf plates with St. John’s wort, this medicinal plant was given such a name. The shrub blooms for only 15 days, starting in May, with rather small white flowers located along the entire length of the branches.

Spirea Country Red

The shrub belongs to the species of Japanese spirea, no more than 80 cm high. The entire growing season, the leaf plate remains painted in dark green tones, and by autumn it changes the “green outfit” to a fiery orange “dress”. The prefix “Red” in the name does not mean that the red color predominates in the shrub, but large shields of peduncles that appear and do not disappear all summer are closest to this range.

Spirea Fujino Pink

Most often in the name of this shrub you can find the prefix “Thunberg”. Meadowsweet Fujino Pink attracts attention with drooping branches and changing color of peduncles – from pink to snow-white. The maximum height is a mark of 150 cm, with a mandatory size of 200 cm in crown diameter. Meadowsweet Fujino Pink tends to change the color of leaf plates throughout the season:

• Spring – greenish-yellow;
• summer – bright green
• autumn – fiery red.

Spirea Densiflora

Meadowsweet Densiflora belongs to the species of densely flowered spirea. Shrubs, like two drops, are similar to each other in shoots, leaf plates, the shape and size of peduncles. The only difference between them is the color scheme of the appearing inflorescences – in the meadowsweet of Densiflora they are virgin white, for which the people nicknamed the shrub “bride”.

Three-lobed spiraea

A decorative appearance of the three-lobed meadowsweet is given by leaf plates that look like 3 fused curly lobes, painted smoky green from below. The shrub is covered for 15 days with small white shields, starting from mid-June, and at the end of September, fruits ripen on the branches.

Winter hardiness of spirea

Meadowsweet refers to winter-hardy shrubs. And even branches frozen in winter are able to quickly recover after sanitary pruning. In most cases, the spirea is not covered for the winter, but if the gardener has such a desire, then the meadowsweet can be covered in the fall with spruce branches, peat or covering material.

Conclusion

The photo and description of the spirea shrub and the varieties and species considered in the article allow us to conclude that this plant is unpretentious and rather decorative. Minimal care and high winter hardiness have long been noticed by gardeners and landscape designers, which is why the shrub has become so popular in recent years.