June 2, 2011: Spirea Story

We had a Spirea (the shrub seen in these photos) at Mom's old house and I HATED IT. It was planted in a space way too small for it, so it never looked good and I was always having to cut off huge pieces of it to not overtake the other vegetation around it. (Note: we did not plant it - it was there when Mom bought the house.)

Now, I have 4 of these annoying things!!! On rainy days the one by the kitchen walkway seems to reach out and grab me with it's awful wet arms. In the summer it grows so fast I can't see out the kitchen window. As such, I am always pruning it down, down, down away from the path and the window. Although this keeps it nice and bushy, it flowers on the older growth and never has a lot of flowers on it. Kevin and I tolerate its presence.

The second one was at some point shaped into a hedge, so I keep it like that. It, too, threatens the sight line of a window and I always keep it short and un-flowery.

The third on is in a position much like the one at Mom's house year's ago. It's always overtaking the plants around it and growing into the doorway on the otherside of the house. I don't prune it quite so severely, as we rarely use that door, but we also don't see it very much, so when it flowers it's kind of lost on us.

The fourth one is on the far side of the driveway away from the walkways, the windows, and the doors. It is close to the car door, though and it, too, has reached it dripping wet arms out at me as I vacated my vehicle and received the requisite pruning, too. However, last fall I decided to spare it, only trimming away around the base to allow the sunshine at my tulips in the Spring. It payed off. I had absolutely beautiful tulips for the last 2 weeks and now my Spirea is doing what it is supposed to do and it is quite beautiful.  This is the one featured in these photos.

So, the lesson here is to never plant a Spirea near walkways, windows, doors, or in cramped spaces. It needs to be out in the open and allowed to flop it's flower-laden branches all over the place!