As our weather begins to warm up, it’s becoming more obvious just how much damage was done during last January’s extreme cold.
Now is a great time to prune back dead wood, tidy up misshapen plants and remove the ones which have not yet shown any signs of life.
When we look at replacement options, it’s important to select new plants that are extremely heat, cold and drought tolerant.
One family of plants, in particular, will make a great contribution to our landscapes.
Spiraeas are truly making all the difference in terms of foliage, colour and long flowering habit. The low mounding forms are the most valuable because they fit into so many plant combinations and will tolerate full, hot sun and partially shaded locations.
Spiraea ‘Goldmound’ grows only 0.5 to 1 metre tall and wide and has vibrant yellow foliage. Its contrasting pink flowers begin blooming in late spring and continue well into late summer. Spiraea ‘Magic Carpet’ also has golden foliage, but for a nice contrast its new growth is a vibrant red, which keeps coming all summer. The flowers are a pinkish purple, and they too continue blooming well into summer. Both these varieties are rated zone 3 for hardiness, making them prairie hardy.
The green foliage spiraeas do not have the bright leaf colour of the golden varieties, but they more than make up for it with their large and vivid flowers. S.‘Little Princess’ grows about 0.5 meters tall and wide with large leaves and bright pink flowers that bloom all summer.
The new ‘Poprocks Petite’ is also a very strong bloomer with green foliage and a nice compact habit. Noted for its massive spread of hot pink flowers, this showstopper can grow about one meter in height and width.
There are many white spiraeas, like the old-fashioned ‘Bridal Wreath’ which grows a little taller and creates a nice backdrop feature. Spiraea ‘Tor’ is a more compact, rounded variety with a heavy concentration of intense white blooms.
The new variety that is really turning heads is Proven Winners' spiraea ‘Glow Girl.' Growing up to 1.2 meters, its lemon-lime foliage makes a lovely contrast to its pure white flowers. As summer transitions into fall, its foliage turns a rich shade of burgundy.
Although it’s nice to have year-round colour, because most of these new varieties keep their foliage well into November, and in normal winter conditions, begin to refoliate in early March, this means there is little downtime.
Spiraeas also make great container plants, and they play nicely with other plants for a beautiful display. So, if you’re rethinking your landscape and need an instant pop, do consider these hardy, drought tolerant sun lovers. They won’t let you down.
