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Spiraea 'Margaritae'

Modern name

Spiraea 'Margaritae'

Synonyms

S. × margaritae Zab.

A shrub 4 or 5 ft high, its stems erect, reddish brown, and downy. Leaves 2 to 312 in. long, 34 to 112 in. wide, narrowly oval or oblong, coarsely, sharply, and irregularly toothed at the terminal part, entire and narrowly wedge-shaped at the base. Flowers bright pink, 13 in. wide, produced from July onwards in large, flat corymbs 3 to 6 in. across, terminating the growths of the year.

This spiraea was raised by Zabel from S. ‘Superba’ (see below), supposed to be a hybrid between S. japonica ‘Albiflora’ and S. betulifolia var. corymbosa; the pollen parent was probably S. japonica. However that may be, it is certainly one of the very best of the late summer-flowering group. A large mass of it makes a very striking effect from July to September. It should be pruned every winter or early spring in the same way as recommended for the Japonica group, i.e., to cut out entirely the older shoots and prune the younger ones back to within 1 ft of the ground, leaving only sufficient – say one every 6 in. or so – to furnish the plant during the ensuing summer. Treated in this way the shrub does not get to be more than 3 ft high, and becomes a sheet of blossom. If the corymbs are cut off as they fade, a succession of flowers may be obtained until September.

This hybrid was named by Zabel after his daughter.

S. ‘Superba’. – Mentioned above as the seed-parent of ‘Margaritae’, this was put into commerce by Froebel of Zürich in the 1870s as S. callosa (japonica) var. superba. It is not in general cultivation in Britain.

S. × foxii K. Koch ex Zab. – A hybrid between S. japonica and S. betulifolia var. corymbosa, resembling ‘Margaritae’ but with blush-pink or white smaller flowers in June or July and glabrous leaves, green beneath. It was described in 1870 by K. Koch, under S. japonica but with the suggestion that it might be a hybrid between that species and S. betulifolia. Strictly both ‘Margaritae’ and ‘Superba’ should be placed under S. × foxii.


Genus

Spiraea

Other species in the genus