Thunberg's Spiraea, Meadowsweet
 

Mature Size, Growth, Longevity

Grows 3-5' tall and wide, but often matures slightly wider than tall. Habit is bushy, arching and slightly spreading. A dense, upright, twiggy shrub, with wiry, outward-arching branches.

Native Range

Native to Japan and China. Introduced around 1830.

Flower and Fruit Details

Individual flowers are white, 0.33" across, in March/April, before the leaves. Overall effect is quite showy, with individual flowers borne in 3-to 5- flowered, sessile umbels. Often is the earliest spirea to come into flower. Flowers attract butterflies. Fruit is a capsule of several follicles.

Leaf and Bark Features

Deciduous: Willow-like leaves, alternate, simple, linear-lanceolate, 1-1.5" long, 1/8-1/4" wide, glabrous, finely serrate, pale-green to yellow-green, w/ a very short petiole. Leaves are borne on extremely fine, slender, slightly-angled, light brown, zigzag stems. The yellow-green leaves of summer turn more yellowish, with bronze and orange coloration in the fall, holding late, but not extremely showy or ornamental.

Culture and Care

Prune annually after blooms fade to maintain shape and keep the plant neater and more compact. Otherwise, it becomes open and leggy over time. Zone 4-8. Needs full sun or mostly sun. Easy to grow in average soils. Tolerates clay soils and some drought. Generally pest-free, but susceptible to various problems of the rose family, such as fireblight, leaf spots, powdery mildew, aphids and scale.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Other Facts

The light green shades of wispy, fine-textured foliage are attractive against the darker foliage of other shrubs during the summer. 3-season interest: Spring, summer and fall. Tolerates deer. The specific epithet, "thunberg", honors Carl Peter Thunberg (1743-1828), Swedish plant explorer, who introduced this plant to Europe.

Suggested Uses

Good for hedges, borders, foundation plantings, mass plantings, and sunny woodland margins.

Taxa and Plants of this Species at BCA