Julia’s Garden Blog

Virginia sweet spire ‘Henry Garnet’ is your “go to” plant if you want a really awesome deciduous shrub that is cold and heat hardy, pest free, grows 3-5 feet tall, and is fragrant.

I fell in love with this beautiful shrub, with it’s early-summer white flowers, when we first planted it several years ago.

Not only does it give you cheerful blooms in spring, it also gives you season long interest when its leaves turn a rich purple in the autumn.

Use it in sun or shade, wet or dry soils and in combination with shade-loving perennials. It’s wonderful to have a spring blooming shrub that isn’t picky about where you put it.

It’s also nice that it can take the hot, humid summers here in the Mid South.

The variety ‘Henry’s Garnet’ is currently taking the market by storm because of it’s compact form, larger flowers, and more intense autumn color. It is also said that this variety is a bit hardier than the regular Itea virginica

Virginia sweet spire does well in hardiness zones 5-9 and blooms from May-June.

You won’t regret giving this plant a try. It’s even recommended by Tracy Disabato-Aust in her recent book entitled

50 High-Impact, Low-Care Garden Plants: Though But Beautiful Plants Anyone Can Grow

I think we have just about all 50 of the plants she recommends in her book and I have to say she is spot on with her recommendations.

Go ahead and try Virginia sweet spire in your garden if you want an easy to care for plant that won’t take over your garden. Tracy recommends pairing it with

Anemone hupehensis

‘September Charm’ or as an underplanting to serviceberry trees. We used it successfully at the end of our perennial bed right next to our Oak leaf hydrangeas as seen in the picture below

Virginia sweet spire