Japanese Spiraea 'Nana'

Japanese spiraea 'Nana' (Spiraea japonica 'Nana') is the smallest of the Japanese spiraeas, a neat green cushion you want to run your hand over. Small bluish-green leaves clothe the rounded little bush densely, in midsummer flat pink corymbs scatter across the top, and in autumn the whole cushion flares orange-red.

This is a plant for the front row: a rock garden, an edging along a path, the front of a mixed border or the foot of taller shrubs. At 10 years it stands just 0.1-0.5 m tall and 0.5-1 m wide, so it hides nothing behind it and keeps its neat shape almost on its own - unlike the taller 'Froebelii' or 'Goldflame'.

Key characteristics:

• What makes it special: The small bluish-green leaves flare up orange-red in autumn, so the bush stays eye-catching long after flowering is over.
• Dimensions: A dwarf globe: at 10 years it holds 0.1-0.5 m tall and 0.5-1 m wide.
• Hardiness: Winters calmly - it takes down to -34 °C (USDA zone 4).
• Flowering: From May to July pink flat corymbs open - delicate and very festive.
• Light: Happiest in full sun; it tolerates light shade, but flowers more freely in an open spot.
• Soil: Takes any garden soil easily - moderately moist and well drained; it opens up most generously on rich, moist loams.
• Watering: Its water needs are moderate: keep the soil evenly moist, without drying out or waterlogging.
• Care: It flowers on the current year's shoots, so it responds willingly to pruning in late winter or early spring.
• Landscape use: Lovely as a specimen or in groups in a rockery, in drifts in a shrub border and as low hedges along paths.