Plants & Profits: Spirea

Suggest spirea when customers ask for…

• A compact shrub for a border with spring color
• An “old fashioned” shrub
• Something that will tolerate poor soil
• A shrub that’s easy to prune and care for
• A plant to anchor a mixed bed of perennials

{The story}
Spireas are among the easiest flowering shrubs to grow. These deciduous shrubs make a beautiful display when planted in front of green-foliage plants, allowing the spirea to fully show off its flowers. The most popular cultivars are ideal for rock gardens, borders or ground cover. Spireas are drought tolerant once established, and can thrive in poor urban soils. These shrubs are often used in mass plantings, but they need to be carefully spaced, as they don’t perform well when crowded together. Most spirea varieties are extremely winter hardy and do not require any special protection.

Display and marketing possibilities

• Market spring- and summer-blooming spirea together as a way to extend seasonal color.
• Create “Did You Know?” signage discussing the medicinal qualities of spirea. The plant contains methyl salicylate and other salicylates, compounds with similar medicinal properties of aspirin.
• Display spirea with complementary plants, like ornamental grasses and ferns.
• Tout spirea as a shrub that’s not favored by common pests—especially deer.