Itea virginica ‘Shirley's Compact’ Bob McCartney always-moist soil

always-moist soil

rounded mophead clusters of sterile florets open pale and cream

beside a gate or water feature

dramatic subtropical

Itea virginica ‘Shirley's Compact’ Bob McCartney always-moist soilItea 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