Japanese-American Virginia Sweetspire. On one of my trips to Japan several years ago, we were all struck by this particular selection of Itea. We were told that it was Itea japonica. The flowers were a blush pink. But then Mr. Yamaguchi informed us that Itea japonica does not sucker like its American counterpart, Itea virginica. Upon seeing this selection, plant guru, Dr. Todd Lasseigne, told me of one of the first introductions of our native Itea to Japan took place back in the early twentieth century and since then, the two species had even been confused in Japan. So what we were bringing back to the U.S. is one of our own. But so far the foliage has stayed amazingly clean with hardly any spotting, which is a big problem with many of our named cultivars. And as the flowers of this selection ages, they take on a soft blush pink as one can see from the pictures. This plant performs well in full sun and heavy shade, but the best flowering is in more sun. Give it adequate moisture. Another characteristic of this selection is that it takes on very little fall color and in mild winters it will remain almost completely evergreen here in zone 8. The last picture is the size plant that we will ship.
Zone 5-9
