Spiraea Species, Steeplebush, Fernald Hardhack

It is a pretty, good, native plant for pollinating insects; I've had several bee species liking it. In nature it normally grows in bogs, ...Read Moreswamps, and wet meadows loving acid, wet soils. I ran across one person reporting that she knew of a wild colony growing in a wet, alkaline soil. Iplanted one I bought from a native plant nursery in southeast Pennsylvania in 2003. I got so busy, and the other prairie-meadow plants competed with it and a big drought caused it to die out on me. In May of 2018 I bought another Steeplebush from Redbud Nursery in southeast PA again and planted it in a big tub with potting soil that I had treated with Acidifer granuals of Sulfur & Iron sulfate. It grew quickly and bloomed not all at once but with various flowers in June to early September. It also helps to deadhead for longer bloom and it does bloom on current year's growth. In 2019 the plant grew thicker and better and bloomed more at once in late June into early July. I planted another 2 gallon specimen in May of 2019 along the slight slope along my garage in the good clay soil with a pH of about 6.7 and we'll see how she does. It is a wonderful native plant that should be restored in natural parks and land preserves or be used in larger natural gardens with moist to draining wet soil. The Thomas Darling Preserve in the southern Poconos of PA is a site of bog, fen, and swamp (besides forest) that has some of this species growing in the acid, draining wet, sandy and/or sphagnum moss soils. Native from Nova Scotia through southeast Ontario to central Minnesota, much of WI, northern IL down to Arkansas to South Carolina up into most of NY and New England.

Gorgeous spires of showy pink flowers.

A rare butterfly, Lycaeides melissa samuelis (Karner Blue), has been observed to n...Read Moreectar at the flowers of Steeplebush.

Native to North America (Native Distribution: Nova Scotia & N.B. to Quebec & e.c. MN, s. to NC, MS & AR). Makes a great hedge when planted 3 feet on center. Requires a rich, moist soil and full sun.

I have two of these in my gardens. I knew them as spiraea salicifolia, Willowleaf Meadowsweet. It is hard to find much information on thi...Read Mores plant, it was here when I moved here. I assume since they bloom after May it is ok to prune them in the spring? I have never pruned them other than removing spent blooms but they didn't bloom as heavy last year so I am thinking I should prune them this spring?

This American species is another S. latifolia or S. alba look-alike. The flowers on S. tomentosa are also in a conical arrangement at th...Read Moree tips of the rect stems but their's are usually reddish-pink, but rarely white. the telling feature for IDing this species is the felty, greyish-white undersides to the leaves. Again, too invasive for a regular garden but OK for the wildflower or butterfly garden. It will also tolerate wet, acidic soil.