Bridal wreath spirea
Spiraea x vanhouttei · Rosaceae
The old-fashioned bridal wreath: a fountain of arching branches so covered in white flowers in late spring that they bend to the ground.
- Size
- 6½ ft tall, 8 ft wide
- Zones
- 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Mid May to late May
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Anchor
A bed built around bridal wreath spirea
The planner designed this bed around bridal wreath spirea when this page was made: a 22 × 10 ft (6.7 × 3.0 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why bridal wreath spirea stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Bridal wreath spirea × 1, white
- 2 Seaside daisy × 11, lavender
- 3 October daphne × 16, pink
- 4 Sweet coneflower 'Henry Eilers' × 3, yellow
- 5 Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' × 3, blue
- 6 Little bluestem × 3, blue-green leaves
- 7 Purple coneflower × 3, purple
- 8 Wild quinine × 5, white
- 9 Japanese onion 'Ozawa' × 16, purple
- 10 Gloriosa daisy × 13, yellow
- 11 Wild strawberry × 11, white
- 12 Hyacinth 'Delft Blue' × 12, blue
- 13 Dutch iris × 5, blue
Why this plant
- Part of the bed's structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down. So does little bluestem.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 6½ ft it is the tallest plant here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' (4 ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- One plant, alone. A shrub is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- In flower for three weeks. From mid May to late May.
- Part of the bed's peak. With seaside daisy, Italian bugloss 'Dropmore', wild strawberry and others in late May: 5 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as an English border: 21 of the 22 groups (95%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The flowering is at its height in late May, with 5 kinds out together. The bed is tied together by its repeats: five kinds come round again along it, among them October daphne and Japanese onion 'Ozawa'.
The planner's own design check: 12 Excellent, 5 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where bridal wreath spirea goes in a border
At 6½ ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is very tall (5 to 6½ ft).
Its job: anchor. A shrub that gives the bed permanent structure. Planted singly, as soon as the front edge is laid; everything else is arranged around it.
Its beauty is its fountain shape, so never shear it. Give it three metres of width, and cut the oldest stems out at the base after flowering.
- A flowering fountain for a large space
- Informal hedges
- Old-fashioned gardens
What to plant with bridal wreath spirea
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Peony: low enough (3 ft) to stand in front of it.
- Bearded iris: in flower together for two weeks, from late May; low enough (2½ ft) to stand in front of it.
- Dwarf Korean lilac 'Palibin': in flower together for two weeks, from late May.
Questions about bridal wreath spirea
Does bridal wreath spirea need sun or shade?
Bridal wreath spirea grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and little watering once settled.
What zones does bridal wreath spirea grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 8. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does bridal wreath spirea flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers mid May to late May. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 3 | Late May to mid June |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Late May to early June |
| Zone 5 | Mid May to late May |
| Zone 6 | Early May to late May |
| Zone 7 | Early May to mid May |
| Zone 8 | Late April to early May |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should bridal wreath spirea be planted?
6½ ft (200 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 8 ft (250 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 6½ ft (200 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many bridal wreath spirea plants do I need?
Usually one. At 6½ ft (200 cm) across, it is a plant you place, not one you mass. For a hedge or screen, set them 6½ ft apart: two plants for a 10 ft run.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is bridal wreath spirea poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Is there a native plant like bridal wreath spirea?
Bridal wreath spirea is not native to North America. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Common ninebark: the same job in a bed and the same colour; 20 in taller, flowers late May to late June.
- Highbush blueberry: the same job in a bed, the same flowering time and the same colour; 20 in narrower, medium leaves, not fine.
- Black chokeberry: the same job in a bed, the same flowering time and the same colour; 20 in shorter, 2½ ft narrower.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What flowers after bridal wreath spirea?
Bridal wreath spirea is over by late May. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Peony: from late May to late June, 3 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems (a recorded partner).
- Delphinium: from late June to mid July, 5 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- English rose 'Graham Thomas': from mid June to early October, 5 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does bridal wreath spirea look like in winter?
Bridal wreath spirea drops its leaves and stands as bare branches. That is when to see its shape, and to prune it if it needs pruning.
More Spiraea
- Birchleaf spirea 'Tor' Spiraea betulifolia 'Tor'
- Japanese spirea 'Goldflame' Spiraea japonica 'Goldflame'
- Japanese spirea 'Little Princess' Spiraea japonica 'Little Princess'
- Japanese spirea 'Magic Carpet' Spiraea japonica 'Magic Carpet'
- Snowmound spirea Spiraea nipponica 'Snowmound'
- Spirea 'Grefsheim' Spiraea x cinerea 'Grefsheim'
- Spirea 'Ogon' Spiraea thunbergii 'Ogon'
- White meadowsweet Spiraea alba
In these guides
Zone guides: Zone 3 · Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8
In flower in: May
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 6½ ft (200 cm) tall, 8 ft (250 cm) wide
- Plant
- 6½ ft (200 cm) apart
- Height class
- Very tall (5 to 6½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Mid May to late May; dense clusters; white
- Leaves
- Fine texture, deciduous; dark green
- Shape
- Arching, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Rosaceae
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.