Virginia Sweetspire, Gooseberry, Itea 'Henry's Garnet'

I have 4 of these in my mostly shady central Delaware back yard. I think it is an under-utilized plant. It blooms here after the big fa...Read Morency show of azaleas and wisteria are done. Then the itea and wild hydrangea put on a more reserved show. A few years after planting, a big oak tree had to come down, and now one of the itea is just getting too much sun, and is not too happy. They all send out suckers, but these are not too difficult to remove. If you have a shady yard, you might try planting this shrub, especially if you are aiming for a woodland look.

This is the most common cultivar grown in southeast PA and probably elsewhere too. It was selected for bearing excellent red fall color a...Read Morend for larger flower clusters, and shiny stems that are more purplish than the average mother species. It is a handsome, clean plant that should be grown more. It does sucker a lot in wet or very moist soils. It is easy to prune.

I think I have this plant growing wild on my property. It may be something else. Most are in full sun, but some are in a shady moist area...Read More and these are huge, almost like trees. These have been here a long time.
Towards fall the racemes the flowers were on get very tiny green berries that turn brown and fall to the ground. I see the fall pictures but don't see any of these seed racemes on them. We mowed a lot of these down when we bought the property but haven't mowed them since. They are growing like crazy and are four feet tall in two years. Could this be something else? I would send pics but right now they don't look like much. They are just starting to get buds.

I've grown this plant for several years in Buckfield, Maine (zone 5a now) in light shade and moist soil and it did very well with little ...Read Moresuckering so far. A great three season selection of a native plant; incidentally not closely related to Ribes, despite the common name Gooseberry. I've recently moved and already have one on order for the new garden.