Now and then the landscape gardener comes
across a must-have shrub that fits nicely into smaller scale urban and intown
gardens. First choice this spring is White Frost™ Birchleaf Spirea from Garden Debut®. White Frost™ is named for the fountains of white flowers that
cover the plant each spring like a beneficent late frost. Flat-topped
corymbs composed of tiny white flowers envelope the shrub’s arching branches
and closely resemble another Spirea known as Bridalwreath.
In days gone by, brides cut the arching branches of Spirea and wove
them into bridal crowns that lasted only a day. Since Spirea and Hawthorn were annually
in bloom around the first of May, they were often selected as the flowers of
choice. The flower crowns were employed still earlier in the Celtic festival of Beltane, a spring-time festival of optimism mid-way between the Spring Equinox and Midsummer Night.
A Queen
of the May was crowned on the church steps each year, with the ritual circular crown signifying
both virginity and the unending cycle of the seasons. Fertillity of crops and livestock was an important aspect of the agrarian society, and the hanging of May Boughs on the doors and windows of houses and barns and in farmyards was observed, often composed of Hawthorn or Mountain Ash. In the garden the flowers
are attractive to bees, butterflies, pollinators and birds.
Bring history into your
garden with White Frost™ Birchleaf
Spirea,
a compact, mounded, dense shrub maturing at about 3 feet tall and wide. This tough-as-nails, spring-flowering shrub is also known for its striking fall color. Enjoy a second season of
color each autumn with its long-persistent bronze, purple, yellow-gold and red
fall foliage colors. Landscape uses of this durable, romantically old-fashioned
shrub include low hedges, foundation plantings or containers.
Visit Garden Debut®
Retailers Page and click on your state to find a retailer nearby who is carrying
White Frost™ Birchleaf Spirea.
Ruthie’s Bridal Wreath Blog http://ruthie822.blogspot.com/2009/05/bridal-wreath.html
