Spiraea japonica Sparkling Champagne

Spiraea japonica Sparkling Champagne is a recent variety of Japanese Spiraea with remarkably coloured foliage from spring to autumn and generous and unique flowering. On a bushy shrub, young red shoots emerge throughout the season, clearly standing out from the older leaves, which are golden yellow to chartreuse green in summer. The whole takes on quite exceptional autumnal colours, ranging from yellow to flamboyant red. The abundant spring to summer flowering, in large corymbs, sports a rather unusual and old-fashioned pink hue, which originates from a multitude of small light pink flowers with a red centre. This new spiraea will be a major asset for shrub beds or adding greenery to terraces. Undemanding, it will earn its place in all gardens.

The 'Sparkling Champagne' Japanese Spiraea belongs to the Rosaceae family and is the result of cross-breeding between Spiraea hayatana, a botanical species from the high mountains of Taiwan, and the Japanese Spiraea Magic Carpet, renowned for its decorative foliage throughout the season. The growth of this well-branched bush is moderately fast and its adult size generally doesn't exceed 1m (3ft) to 1.20m (4ft) in all directions when fully grown, sometimes spreading further depending on the growing conditions. Flowering begins in June, in the form of intense red flower buds nestled in young shoots of the same red colour. These buds unfold into wide terminal corymbs of 10cm (4in). Each small bouquet is composed of numerous tiny flowers, pale pink with a red centre, from which stamens emerge, giving the inflorescence an antique pink colour and a fluffy appearance. This extended flowering, lasting until the end of September or early October if the late season is favourable, attracts many insects and butterflies. Its deciduous foliage consists of small oblong and toothed leaves whose colour varies from spring to autumn.

Brilliant, different, and very decorative with its festival of varied shades, the 'Sparkling Champagne' Spiraea is a bush in festive attire. It can be used in beds, as a standalone plant, in groups, borders, rockeries, pots, or even as a low flowering hedge. You can place it at the forefront of a country-style hedge, accompanied by other dwarf spiraeas (Spiraea betulifolia, Spiraea japonica 'Magic Carpet'), dwarf Red Willow (Salix purpurea nana), dwarf Manchurian Lilac 'Miss Kim', or even dwarf Weigela (Nana purpurea), with shrubby cinquefoils. In a container this spiraea will bring a lot of life and cheerfulness to your terrace or balcony, in conditions that are not too dry.