Itea chinensis Check with George at a time when European

at a time when European gardeners knew only the round mopheads

the first magnolia known to European cultivation

more architectural than romantic

A vigorous

or in a large pot elsewhere

Itea chinensis Check with George at a time when EuropeanItea, the sweetspires, are graceful shrubs of the family Iteaceae, their name taken from the Greek word for willow, after leaves that recall a willow's. Itea chinensis is the Chinese sweetspire, an uncommon evergreen member of the group, a medium to tall shrub of neat, compact form with oval, glossy leaves that hold through the year in the warm South. In spring the plant hangs slender four inch spikes of small white flowers, softly fragrant and busy