I ordered a Glow Girl Spirea from Hirts Gardens, but received this little guy instead. Anyone know what it is? I guess it has to be listed in their inventory right now, which narrows the list down a bit, but still pretty exhaustive. Stems are woody, not fleshy, by the way.
Take some more (higher resolution) images, especially some closeups of the leaves - top and bottom - and the stems, buds, etc.
The foliage doesn't look that far off of Spirea in general. I don't know 'Glow Girl' - which species is that?
At first glance, I thought I could make out Kerria japonica characteristic green stems, but I'm not sure that your plant is not Spirea after all.
More info, please.
Here is a glow girl that I have, compared to this new plant. Obviously, the glow girl is on the left. Totally different plant, as you can see.
OK, side note here:
As I was typing this, I received the response from Hirts that was their response to this picture. He said that it was the same plant and the replacement one was grown under a bench? That if I put it in full sun, it would be the same color? What???????
These two plants don't even look like the same family hardly, to me. OK, yes, I can see the possibility of spirea, but that's where the comparison ends? Could this be true? I mean, the leaves look nothing alike!
Here is a closeup of the leaves on both. Again, glow girl on left, unknown on right.
If these are, in fact, the same plant, then how do I get the ugly thing on the right to look like the gorgeous thing on the left? Prune it back? Lord, as hard as it has been to get these (new 2013 intro), I don't want to kill even the weedy looking one!
The description from the vendor answers a couple questions.
Growing the plant "under the bench" means that it probably received low light levels. This can lead to the less developed foliage intensity displayed, the stringy leggy growth - and your general unhappiness.
This is one BIG reason that I never order online - but that's another subject.
Presuming you have come to the conclusion that you have the plant you ordered, then install it where you want it to grow and prune as necessary to achieve the form you desire. The foliage character should reveal itself with time and exposure.
I'd still like to see more of the plant, but you need not make the effort on my account. Perhaps you could post here again in a month or two, after growing this one on in the garden. I think the followers of these forums would enjoy seeing the evolution of this situation.
This thing is so leggy-- how much pruning is too much at this point? I don't want to kill the miserable little thing!
