Virginia sweetspire
Itea virginica
USDA zones5 to 9
SunHandles full sun to full shade
WaterHandles moderate to wet soil
Size3 to 5 feet tall3 to 5 feet wide
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Bloom season
- Spring, summer, autumn
- Bloom color
- White
- Foliage color
- Green, red in autumn
- Soil types
- Sand, loam, clay
- Soil pH
- Acid
Garden uses
Attracts
Notes
Virginia sweetspire (Itea virginica) is a shrub for borders, rain gardens, hedges, and pollinator gardens. It is hardy to USDA zone 5, or down to -20°F (-29°C). This plant likes full sun to full shade and average to wet, sandy, loamy, or clay soil. Long white flower spires droop with the arching branches and open from base to tip, so the plant seems to bloom for a long time. Deer tend to pass it by. Plant it in masses, since single plants tend to look scraggly.
Pairs well with Blueberry, Great blue lobelia, Karl Foerster feather reed grass, and Serviceberry.
Native range
Eastern North America.