Itea virginica ‘Shirley's Compact’ Bob McCartney dramatic subtropical

dramatic subtropical

arching frame that takes a light pruning in late winter to stay compact and fruit heavily

tarflower opens wide flowers of seven separate petals

beside a gate or water feature

for a plant still hard to find in the trade

Itea virginica ‘Shirley's Compact’ Bob McCartney dramatic subtropicalItea virginica, the Virginia sweetspire, is a native shrub of eastern wetlands, familiar in gardens for fragrant white flower spikes and fiery fall color. 'Shirley's Compact,' sometimes called Shirley's Midget, takes the species to an extreme: a true miniature, a dense little bun of a plant with tiny, twisted, inch long leaves, growing so slowly that a ten year old clump may stand only a foot or a foot and a half tall while spreading two or three feet