LISLE, IL – To a gardener, summer doldrums might mean that trees and other plants are finished blooming. But now, there’s a new shrub on the market that’ll help gardeners stay upbeat about summer. The Morton Arboretum has just introduced a Virginia sweetspire that blooms from mid-June to early July, when few other plants are in flower.
“This is a time-proven shrub that’s been in the Arboretum collections since 1958, and has been a top performer all along,” says Kris Bachtell, Arboretum horticulturist and Vice President of Collections and Facilities.
The plant, whose formal name is Itea virginica ‘Morton’ – Morton Virginia Sweetspire – SCARLET BEAUTY™, grows three to four feet tall and four feet wide in a five-to-six year period. It sports white flowers with a delicate fragrance, in dense clusters on three-inch-long stems. The flowers attract butterflies, and Bachtell says the plant has excellent pest resistance. This particular selection is more cold-hardy than most other sweetspire selections. The species is native to the southeastern United States, including southern Illinois.
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