I’ve grown several spirea shrubs over the years but it wasn’t until I found the ‘Ogon’ variety that I became thoroughly smitten, recommending it to the dozens of people who’ve asked me about it admiringly. Here’s why.
The photo above, taken March 8 of last year, shows how early they bloom – with the ‘February Gold’ daffodils, even earlier than forsythias near me.
It also has fabulous fall color, which it maintains for an impressively long time – so long that I kept photographing it over the winter so that I could record its last date with leaves.
And the result? The wreath is a tip-off. I took the photo above on December 23, just before it began dropping its leaves. Pretty impressive, right?
And here’s what it looks like the rest of the growing season – willow-like foliage and bright chartreuse color that people go nuts for.
I was prepared to brag about Ogon’s 10 full months of color.
Until this spring, when my Ogons didn’t flower until the last week of March. But still – 9 months of color!
It’s pretty, but what use is it?
Sadly, it’s controversial these days to recommend plants solely for their beauty. But in my gardening and garden-coaching experience I’ve found that beauty counts for a lot because that’s what inspires people to garden more, to fill up their little spaces with more and more plants, more diversity, less lawn, and so on. Beauty wins converts to gardening, just as the failure of plants to look good can discourages new gardeners.
ALL eco-services
Plants, of course, perform all sorts of eco-services, wherever they’re from. Per Texas A&M’s “Eco-systems services benefits of plants,” plants sequester carbon, improve air and water quality, reduce stormwater runoff and erosion, and absorb heat.
Then we get to the eco-service that native-plant purists seem to focus on exclusively – “attracting wildlife and promoting biodiversity.” Shrubs, including Japanese spireas, create habitat for some birds, possibly other critters, too. Some of them even feed pollinators. A quick google of “spirea” reveals that:
- Garden Design Magazine, on the subject of spirea’s wildlife benefits, says that it “Attracts bees and butterflies; deer resistant.”
- The Morton Arboretum says “Butterflies are attracted to the summer flowers.”
- Michigan State lists spireas as a top shrub for attracting bees.
- Several sources call (nonnative) spireas one of the best shrubs for attracting pollinators.
Then there’s the fact that spireas (in my 40+ years growing them in Maryland) need NO inputs. Okay, newly planted ones may need supplemental watering until established or in a VERY long drought, but really, nothing else. Okay, five minutes of yearly renewal pruning after they’re full-grown, just enough to encourage new growth from the base.
But that’s all, so in terms of sustainability, spireas are as self-sustaining as can be. That reminds me of the time I mentioned spireas during a talk about “sustainable gardening,” which prompted an angry complaint to the organizers of the talk. Disapproved of spirea’s Asian provenance.
In the end, aren’t we all just trying to convince people to do more with their yards than grow turfgrass? If they’d all just turn some of it into borders with a mix of shrubs and perennials, both native and nonnative, that would be a huge improvement!
Shaming people for growing such beautiful, well-adapted nonnatives is counter-productive. So I take the garden-coach approach of recommending plants that create pretty spaces that will be loved and gardened in. I say help create a gardener, a well informed one, and the environment will be better for it.
One big help are the fast-growing, inexpensive spring-flowering shrubs like spirea and weigela. They can be the gorgeous backdrop for your pollinator garden.
Just don’t believe the tags that tell you these shrubs they need full sun. For maximum blooming, sure, but they’ve done well for me with just a couple hours of sun. For the Ogon especially, people grow it mainly for the foliage, anyway, not the blooms.
Here are some Ogons I planted at my coop’s offices, along with the later-blooming and -leafing-out Ninebark shrubs and beds filled with pollinator-pleasing perennials – all native, I believe.
I wish I had full sun so I could grow this (and Pinus contorta ‘Chief Joseph’).
You prompted me to add to the post that they sure don’t need full sun. Less than half day sun has been fine in my two gardens and lots of locations. Esp this one, which I was growing mainly for foliage, anyway.
Spireas were a landscaping plant of choice in my region 20-odd years ago; you couldn’t find a parking lot or commercial building without them, it seemed. Since they were inexpensive as a result, I bought a couple to put in a couple of beds around my house, not knowing much about them. In the 20+ years I lived there, I came to love them, for the beautiful seasonal changes that gave visual interest, and because they complemented whatever was planted near them, plus the almost no maintenance needed. Also, the deer don’t eat them! They never got overgrown or scraggly. They weren’t “Ogon”s, but I can see the same details in your photos. Makes me think I need a few here in my new place!
I love these spireas. Unfortunately, while deer may not eat them, rabbits do. Of course, this year rabbits ate a lot of things in my garden this winter, so maybe they were desperate.
My biggest complaint about spirea is the way a lot of people here butcher its graceful shape by pruning it into a box or mushroom. They prune off most of the beautiful flowers and bare spots are left. There is a native spirea, Spirea alba, commonly called meadowsweet. It is, however, a plant that likes wet feet, but perfect for a rain garden, by a downspout or at the water’s edge. https://b0691bd9-eb57-4523-b08c-731bdbaa78e0.filesusr.com/ugd/87c61f_943984fe87d74e2bb1a128bf1435a0db.pdf
Drives me a little crazy when people miss the big picture of how plants contribute to our environments. Everything has a use of some sort be it a conglomeration of plants creating habitat, beauty for the beholders, carbon sequestration, creating diversity, etc. Gardens are artificial yes, but they affect us on so many levels why do we have to be so divisive about what is in them?
So delighted that you are sharing the attributes of ‘Ogon’ – it is, to me, the very best of the spiraeas for its cheerful early blooms and late fall color. A graceful, easy-care (almost no-care), and helpful addition to any garden. It will also grow with less than full sun (but at least half sun). Thank you!
This is my absolute favorite spiraea not only for its many- season beauty but also for its usability in floral arrangements. The wispy chartreuse foliage is a perfect foil for many different flowers and it not only acts as a foliage but also as a filler.
Very nice! I will consider one or two for my little front yard. Thanks for the recommendation!
I think they are beautiful. Will check them out online to see if they can take Texas heat, acidic soil, and drought. If so, I want one. Am already growing a Bridal Wreath spirea that also needs very little care. It’s blooming its head off right now and it was unfazed by our horrible freeze in February.
I have the Bridal Wreath and Button Spires. They remind me of my childhood. While I have never seen a pollinator on them they grow so thick that birds roost in them. So I figure they are good enough for them they are good enough for me.
Unfortunately the deer in my neighborhood haven’t gotten the news that they aren’t to eat spiraea.
And I can ALWAYS count on preying mantis egg cases, laid on the stems of spireas, in the fall—and the tiny little springers can hide amongst the foilage in the spring—
I adore Ogon too but this year the late frost and early warm weather provided a recipe for disaster. ogon looks awful!!!
I’m not 100%-native-or-nothing and I agree that it’s important for people to enjoy their gardens, but I think you picked an unfortunate example. It seems that Spiraea thunbergii is newly recognized as having invasive potential and has started naturalizing throughout the US. Too bad our native spiraeas are only suited best to wet soils.
https://www.fs.fed.us/foresthealth/technology/pdfs/FHTET-2017-05_New_Invaders_Southeast.pdf
https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=Spth2
Lime Mound and Bridal Wreath have done great in the foothills of Central California, where it gets crazy hot. Anything that blooms, has fall color AND THE DEER WON’T EAT is fine by me!
I plant Spirea Ogon in many landscape projects. They look great with larger leaved shrubs and flowers. Great filler plant!
I initially resisted spirea when my dad put it on plant list for the garden he designed for my house. I can’t remember the cultivar, but I was turned off by the picture I had in my head of faded, dusty pink flowers. I’ve since gone back and planted a few and I love them. I saw Ogon at Brookside Gardens this weekend and was smitten.
So glad to hear you talking about beauty as a reason for making a garden. We’re really denying a profound human need if we dismiss its value in our gardens.