'Goldflame' has been a very popular small shrub since the 1980's in much of the US because of its colourful foliage. Since then it has been very popular for people to have "colour" in their yards by using woody plants with yellow or red foliage. I'd rather do that with flowers instead. However, the use of red or yellow foliaged woody plants as an accent, not as a mainstay, is recommended by professional landscape architects and designers. The buds and young leaves of 'Goldflame' begin as red in early spring and then most of the leaf colour is orangish-yellow with red areas the rest of the cool springtime. When the weather becomes warm, the foliage becomes a bright greenish-yellow, and during the heat of summer the foliage colour becomes a poor yellowish-green. Then in autumn it returns to a good fall colour of yellow-orange with red areas. It does bloom alright with the pink flower clusters in June-early July, though they are smaller than those of various green foliaged cultivars and it does not look as good contrasted with yellow-green colour. This cultivar is normally listed in nursery catalogs under Spiraea x bumalda rather than S. japonica. If not pruned this cultivar like the mother species is usually about 4 to 5 feet high and a little wider, but I have seen it eventually get to 6 feet high x 9 feet wide.
Small dense mound-shaped shrub with clusters of deep pink flowers in summer. Red shoots in spring turn into rich red-tipped chartreuse foliage holding its color into fall. Great for the border, foundation or in mass plantings. Remove old flowers to promote continued bloom. In colder climates, dieback is common. Prune to ground level in early spring, treat as a perennial.
I just took photos of the real Bridalwreath Spirea of Spiraea prunifolia that is an old-fashioned shrub of the late 1800's into the 1960's. The photos in this gallery are not of this species, but of the Vanhoutte Spirea (Spiraea x vanhouttei) and some of the 'Snowmound' Nippon Spirea. Spiraea prunifolia has its white flowers bloom before the foliage really appears in early or mid-April the most. The other two species and some more similar species, all from eastern Asia, can all be called "Bridalwreath" if one really wants to do so. The S. prunifolia does have a mother form from China & Korea with tiny single flowers and is referred to as Spiraea prunifolia simplicifolia, but it is not grown in North America. What is grown in the USA is Spiraea prunifolia 'Plena' that has tiny double button-like flowers that still appear before the foliage on the very slender twigs. I can't think of any conventional nurseries that sell this species anymore, except a few mail order nurseries. Hamilton Square in the top row has the only photo that I see matching this species.
Japanese Spirea (Spiraea japonica) 'Little Princess' produces tons of delicate pale pink blossoms in the late spring and early summer. With deadheading, it will continue to produce blossoms throughout the summer. When in bloom, it is a pollinator magnet, attracting both bees and butterflies. 'Little Princess' does best in full sun. Foliage turns reddish in autumn.
'Gold Mound' is a very popular cultivar that is planted a lot in many conventional landscapes and sold by almost every conventional nursery. It is a hybrid between the Alpine Japanese Spirea x the 'Goldflame' Japanese-Bumald Spirea introduced to the trade by the W.H. Perron Company Ltd. in Quebec, Canada. Its main feature is the bright yellow foliage in spring. That foliage turns yellow-green when the true warmth and heat of summer come forth. It bears some small pink flower clusters. It develops a fair orangish-red fall color. I've never really liked it myself because it is one of those yellow-foliaged woody plants that make me think it has micronutrient deficiency and I want to treat it with chelated nutrients.
This is a newer cultivar that was introduced into the trade by Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, Maryland from Japan. It is very similar to the 'Anthony Waterer' cultivar except its flowers are darker reddish-pink and it starts out with more young reddish foliage growth. It is supposed to turn reddish-purple in the fall. Some nursery sources say it blooms from June until Fall while others don't. What can happen is that a few flowers bloom in mid-Summer and then there is a lesser bloom in September, that is something that some June & early July blooming spirea species can do. If one prunes off the flowers right after blooming, then there is a better rebloom that happens. One source I saw said that it does not self-sow, so that it should not become an invasive east Asian plant into North America as many cultivars of Japanese Spirea can do. I think this cultivar is the best one of all the many Japanese Spirea cultivars.
This 'Snowmound' Nippon Spirea was popular in the 1980's & 90's in the Chicago area with most conventional nurseries selling some. I did notice that after some winters, there was significant die back on this shrub in Zone 5a in the region; probably a matter of being tricked by warmer weather in late winter to begin to grow too soon rather than cold hardiness. It would usually get about 5 feet high for a long time, but could eventually get to about 7 feet if never pruned. I have not seen hardly any of this plant in the Philadelphia, PA region after 2002. I did find one big 7 feet high plant at the famous Shady Maple complex in Lancaster County, PA in 2021. I think this cultivar and the similar old-fashioned Vanhoutte Spirea has been replaced by new spirea selections that grow smaller and shorter, as Spiraea x cinerea 'Grefsheim' and Spiraea trilobata 'Swan Lake.'. The Nippon Spirea mother species comes from the Japanese island of Shikoku.
'Anthony Waterer' is the old standard cultivar that is still the most commonly used selection. Most nursery catalogs list it under Spiraea x bumalda, which is a hybrid between the Pink Japanese Spirea (S. japonica) x the White Woodland Spirea (S. albiflora). Many botanists have recently combined S. albiflora into the S. japonica species. Therefore, AW can be listed in arboretums and botanic gardens as a S. japonica. This cultivar has larger flattish clusters about 4 to 6 inches across that are often bright pink, though I have ones with dull pink. It gets a really good red-orange fall color. There is a good number of different clones of this cultivar out there with varying degrees of pink flowers and with leaves being more roundish to more pointed. The ones in the Chicago area had duller pink flowers but more roundish leaves, while in southeast Pennsylvania I've seen brighter pink flowers and more narrow leaves like 'Froebel.'
This is an old-fashioned plant that was planted a lot around the foundations of old houses in the late 1800's and the first half of the 20th century, as was Common Snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus). It is a hybrid between two Chinese species of similar spireas made about 1862. Most every conventional nursery has gone to selling a few newer cultivars of similar spirea species and hybrids instead since the 1990's. This is one of the classic "Bridalwreaths" still offered by some mail order nurseries. I have seen a few still around, especially close to old houses in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic Regions of the US. I believe this hybrid is sterile and does not bear seed, and does not ever become one of the invasive Eurasian plants that escape cultivation, as I have never seen seedlings around. Later in autumn it gets a nice orange fall color with some yellow, red, and purple tones. Like other spireas it has a shallow, fibrous root system. It does get very twiggy that shows up in winter and it can be heavily or drastically renew pruned right after it blooms.
I just posted a photo of the White Woodland Japanese Spirea, Spiraea japonica albiflora, into the various photos because I could not find this species or variety in the list. I've never seen the mother species of the Japanese Spirea (Spiraea japonica japonica). There are lots of different cultivars of this species and the hybrid Bumald Spirea planted over much of the USA in landscapes abundantly. It is a pretty and very easy small shrub to use and it does not sucker like the few American species do; the latter wild in some places in North America but not used hardly at all in landscapes. Very easy to prune from after blooming to the next early spring, as it blooms on current years growth. Also, one can cut it close to the ground or leave a few stems about 6 inches high. The mother Japanese species looks a lot like the very common 'Anthony Waterer' cultivar with pink flowers. The White Woodland variety looks a lot like Anthony Water also, but has white flower clusters instead. Actually, 'Anthony Waterer' is a cultivar of the Bumald Spirea (Spiraea x bumalda) that is a hybrid of the Japanese X Woodland Spireas. (If the White woodland type is just S. japonica, then maybe there should not be a S. x bumalda at all; but the nurseries will still list them with the hybrid name.) My big concern over the Japanese and Bumald Spirea is that it is escaping cultivation and becoming an invasive east Asian plant in the wild.
