Henry's Garnet Virginia Sweetspire

Henry's Garnet is the native shrub for a wet spot that needs fall color. Itea virginica 'Henry's Garnet' grows 3 to 4 feet tall and 5 to 6 feet wide, wider than tall, hardy from Zone 5 through Zone 8 in part shade. It fills in over two or three seasons.

Fragrant white flowers hang in drooping racemes 4 to 6 inches long in early summer, at a point when most spring shrubs have finished. Butterflies and bees come to them through the bloom.

Fall color is the reason this selection has stayed in the trade. The foliage turns deep garnet red and holds for weeks, often into November, long after most natives have dropped their leaves. In milder zones the leaves hang on through part of the winter.

Virginia sweetspire grows wild along stream edges and in swamps, so it takes wet ground and even standing water, and it also handles ordinary garden soil as long as it does not dry out. More sun gives stronger fall color. It spreads to form a colony over time, which suits a mass planting, a rain garden edge, or a bank. Deer generally leave it alone.