Phalaenopsis Magic Art is a type of orchid that is highly sought after for its mesmerizing and enchanting beauty. Native to Southeast Asia, specifically the Philippines and parts of Malaysia, this orchid species is known for its vibrant colors and captivating patterns. The Phalaenopsis Magic Art is characterized by its large-sized flowers that can measure up to 3 inches in diameter. The petals are typically broad and rounded, giving the flowers a full and voluminous appearance. The colors of the petals vary widely, ranging from shades of pink, purple, white, and yellow. Some varieties even have contrasting colors, with darker patterns or speckles on lighter backgrounds.

Gold Mound Spirea

The Gold Mound Spirea can be characterized by its lovely golden foliage that is prominent in the spring. This sweet little glowing shrub maintains a small and compact structure reaching a height of 3 feet and width of 4 feet.

Yellow to golden leaves cover this plant in the spring, then becoming more of a green yellow shade during the growing season. Tiny pink flowers are produced in the form of clusters in the late spring, which attract special visitors such as butterflies. Fall brings out beautiful orange foliage.

The Goldmound Spirea is grown for the foliage over the flowers and is actually one of the most common deciduous small mounding shrubs grown in smaller scale landscaping projects.

How Far Apart Should I Plant These Shrubs

Plant 2-3 apart in a spot with well drained soil and full sun to part shade conditions in grow zones 4-9.

When To Prune This Spirea

Pruning is optional if suckers start to form on the plant or you wish to maintain a tight and compact structure for spireas planted in small spaces. The Goldmound Spirea responds well to rejuvenation and is recommended to do so in late winter to very early spring.

What Are Good Companion Plants For The Gold Mound Spirea?

Dianthus, sedum, and ornamental grasses pair well with this spirea planted along walkways or around a patio.

Deadhead the flowers of the Goldmound Spirea after flowers have produced and become spent. This will promote re-blooming as the season progresses. The best way to deadhead this shrub is by shearing. In addition to dead heading, shearing will also help to maintain the shape and compact nature of the plant.

Pruning is optional if suckers start to form on the plant or you wish to maintain a tight and compact structure for spireas planted in small spaces. The Goldmound Spirea responds well to rejuvenation and is recommended to do so in late winter to very early spring.

The Gold Mound Spirea is large enough to be used as a main plant in a border, but small enough so that is does not obscure landscape views. These shrubs look great planted along a walkway border or around a patio.

Plant in clusters of 3 or more! Larger clusters will bring out a bigger bang of color. These spirea will also look fantastic planted in a group in front of dark holly trees or in front of privacy trees.

We recommend planting them about a 4.5 to 5.5 feet apart to allow for separation when fully matured. The yellow color of the foliage provides a beautiful contrast against a green lawn. Use them around small ornamental trees and plant red and purple annuals in between or in front of these shrubs for pops of color.

For more options, be sure to browse our Candy Corn Spirea, Little Princess Spirea and Spirea collection.

In the Garden

Do you like spireas? I love them. Yes I know they can be very aggressive and in some cases even downright invasive but I still like them and can't seem to remove them from my garden. In fact, I keep adding more. I just can't help it. Spireas are easy to grow and bloom all season. I also like them as substantial plants in a border or garden. I simply adore spireas and so far I haven't met one I don't like. Today I'll discuss a few of the lower growing mounded varieties in my gardens. These are generally known as 'bumalda' or 'japonica' spireas.

Last May I received a shipment from Proven Winners that included a 'Double Play Big Bang' spirea plant. Proven Winners sends some garden writers plants to trial and I was lucky enough to be on their list. It was like Christmas when the FedEx man pulled up with that box I tell you. While most of the plants in the box were annuals I was very excited to get this spirea. As I am wont to do I tend to grow the plant for at least one year before I post on it. I'd hate to post on a new plant only to have it later die. Well, that has not been the case with this 'Big Bang' spirea. The foliage (pictured above) tends to grab your eye. It is quite a stunner in the garden and came back admirably-even after having to suffer through the drought last summer and other indignities such as being moved at least once. I am really looking forward to seeing some blooms on it this year. To give you a good idea just how special this spirea is I thought I'd compare it to two other spireas I have growing in my garden.





The first comparison is to the newly emerged foliage of 'Goldmound' spirea. This spirea foliage starts off a brilliant chartreuse/yellow color but will gradually darken to a green as the season progresses. It is a beautiful color and shines in the garden almost as much as 'Big Bang'.





The last spirea I am showing you is 'Magic Carpet' spirea. This foliage is definitely an improvement over the 'Goldmound' spirea. The contrast between new and old growth is very nice being a somewhat dulled down version of the 'Big Bang' spirea.

I tell you I really like all three spireas and it would be tough for me to pick a favorite but if I had to pick I'd choose the one that has the most wow power. For me that is the 'Big Bang' spirea.


in the garden.


Which one of the three spireas do you like the best.

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Tough and beautiful

Lil’ Flirt is a colorful, compact variety that tolerates full sun. Photo courtesy of Monrovia.

Timing is everything with Japanese spirea (Spiraea japonica). The time is now — as in no later than early March for a hard pruning — for this tough, summer-flowering shrub that blooms on new wood. Yet, pruning can be a sticking point, growers and breeders say, when educating consumers about a plant that has been a steadfast purchase by both retail and wholesale customers for more than a century.

Japanese spirea are a “steady Eddie” of the landscape, said Debbie Lonnee, product development manager at Bailey Nurseries (St. Paul, Minnesota). It’s also the second best-selling flowering shrub at Spring Meadow Nursery (Grand Haven, Michigan), according to Judson LeCompte, product development assistant manager.

With new introductions, growers are working to offer a stronger selection of plants to meet trends for small- to medium-sized shrubs that provide seasons-long interest with extended bloom and leaf color.

“Consumers like Japanese spirea because they are very tough, easy to grow, take heavy soil, have good urban resistance, and have a gorgeous floral display,” LeCompte said. They also show deer and rabbit resistance and other attributes of flowering plants, such as butterfly friendly.

‘Little Princess’ can last for years when well maintained. Photo courtesy of Monrovia.

Care and propagation

Georgia Clay, new plants manager at Monrovia (Dayton, Oregon), believes that siting them properly helps the plants stay healthy and display their best. Japanese spirea are shade-tolerant, but some of the yellow-leaf varieties will lose their chartreuse color if placed in too deep shade or too harsh sun. They don’t tolerate soil that is too dry or too wet.

Because they are in the rose family, Japanese spirea can experience some of the same issues. Cultural care — for instance, locating in the sun, removing any spotty foliage and watering the base rather than the leaves of the plants — greatly increases plant health. “Spirea japonica don’t have a lot of huge landscape issues,” Clay said. “Plus, new breeds can offer a reblooming feature, which adds to the attractiveness of the extremely low-maintenance shrub that can be placed anywhere,” she said.

To the growers’ benefit, Japanese spirea can be sold widespread in the U.S., in USDA Hardiness Zones 3 to 9 — depending on the cultivar and how fast it takes to produce a saleable plant.

“If you have the right soil amendment in your premix product, I can take a direct cutting at the right time of year, and it will be rooted out July and August,” said grower and landscaper Harold Miller of Harold M. Miller Landscape Nursery (Jefferson, Oregon). “I direct-root them in a can, and don’t put them in a propagation bed.”

Miller puts Japanese spirea cuttings directly into 1-gallon pots with potting soil containing sharp sand, a method he has used for 50 years. He discovered it after a worker put bundles 3 to 4 inches across with a rubber band directly in sawdust. They self-propagated.

“I’ve used sharp sand ever since,” he said. “The sharp pieces of sand split the new pieces of root, and instead of one root, you’ve got two to five new pieces of root. When you grab that handful of potting soil, and it’s nice and smooth, it’s no good.”

As soon as he gets new growth with 10 to 12 buds, 4–5 inches tall, he cuts them to 3–4 inches. As the plants get bigger, in 2–5 gallons, he trims them a few more times.

“Over time, it yields a solid mass of roots,” he said. The process creates a nice and bushy plant.

Once to size, Miller likes to place Japanese spirea in the landscape in groups of three or five of the same variety. Landscapers use them in swaths, in mass plantings, or as short, informal hedges. Although most Japanese spirea grow 2–3 feet, there is variation in size at maturity depending on area of the country they are grown in.

Magic Carpet™ is a top seller for wholesalers. Photo courtesy of Monrovia.

Favorite varieties

‘Little Princess’ (Spiraea japonica ‘Little Princess’), Magic Carpet ™ (S. japonica ‘Walbuma’), ‘Goldmound’ (S. japonica ‘Goldmound’) and ‘Goldflame’ (S. japonica ‘Goldflame’) are among the most popular Japanese spirea on the market.

‘Little Princess’ (2–3 feet tall by 2–3 feet wide, Zones 4–9) is one of the most compact Japanese spirea, according to LeCompte. With delicate, lacey rose-pink flowers atop mint-green foliage, it is among Miller’s favorite spirea for its dense, naturally mounding habit and its longevity in the garden when well-maintained.

“Normally you see a spirea in a landscape, and it looks good for two to three years, and then it gets shabbier and is yanked out,” Miller said. Spirea need pruning, he said, which resets the plant. “But you can’t let it get leggy, and then cut it back.”

The compact Magic Carpet (1–2 feet tall by 2–3 feet wide, Zones 3–8) in containers is the number-one selling Japanese spirea at Bailey Nurseries, according to Lonnee and other nurseries as well. It has showy new red growth that matures to greenish-gold and turns rich russet in fall.

“It has good emerging color and complements the first set of flowers, and looks good all season long,” Lonnee said. Prune it down to 6–12 inches, and it will bloom all summer, she said.

‘Goldmound’ offers vibrant colors. Photos courtesy of Monrovia.

After ‘Magic Carpet’, ‘Goldmound’ (2–3 feet tall by 2–4 feet wide, Zones 4–8) is a close second best-seller at Bailey and ‘Little Princess’ is third. ‘Goldmound’ has a compact mounding habit with bright yellow-gold foliage in spring that fades to a yellowish-green in summer, topped with pink blooms, and yellowish-orange foliage in fall.

Lonnee claims Landscapers know ‘Goldmound’, and in the Midwest they are especially ordering Dakota Goldcharm ® spirea (S. japonica ‘Mertyann’, 15–18 inches high by 2–3 feet wide, Zones 3–8). It is an extreme dwarf variety introduced by North Dakota State University that starts with light bronze leaves in spring turning yellowish-gold by summer and russet in fall.

Miller sells many ‘Froebel’ (S. japonica ‘Froebelii’, 3–4 feet tall by 3–4 feet wide, Zones 4–9), which has better heat and drought tolerance and reaches a larger size than other S. japonica. Leaves emerge a deep purple and turn dark into maturity.

‘Neon Flash’ offers bright foliage and flowers. Photo courtesy of Monrovia.

Where a spring flower is especially important, Miller uses ‘Neon Flash’ (S. japonica ‘Neon Flash’, 2–3 feet tall by 3–4 feet wide, Zones 4–8), a plant he said should be used more often. The flowers are a deep pink, nearly red, with long lasting and plentiful blooms. They contrast with the burgundy-red new growth in spring that matures to deep green and again turns color in fall.

When one color is just not enough, Miller turns to ‘Shirobana’ (S. japonica ‘Shirobana’, 3 feet tall by 3 feet wide, Zones 3–8), sometimes referred to as ‘Shirobana Tricolor’, for the variations of pink, white and reddish flower clusters that dot the plant throughout summer. The leaf colors are just as varied in fall, with hues of red, orange and burgundy foliage lighting up the plant.

‘Anthony Waterer’ has been a good seller for a century. Photo courtesy of Monrovia.

For its larger size and flat-topped pink flowers that hold longer, Miller uses ‘Anthony Waterer’ (S. japonica ‘Anthony Waterer’, 3–5 feet tall by 3–5 feet wide, Zones 4–9), introduced more than a 100 years ago in 1875, and yet still a valued plant. New foliage emerges red-purple in spring, matures to green by summer and turns reddish in fall.

Newer varieties

Clay believes name recognition always plays a part in sales, especially with plants landscapers have used before. However, Monrovia is seeing some replacing of the older varieties when new ones come along that have better attributes.

Monrovia introduced in 2017 Lil’ Flirt (S. japonica ‘SMSJMLA’ PP30591, 2½ feet tall by 2½ feet wide, Zones 4–9), which has burgundy growth in spring like ‘Anthony Waterer’, and deep pink flowers, but is half the size, has a more tight, refined habit, making it a little easier to care for, and it tolerates sun without burning. Plus, it reblooms.

“The flower is a really deep pink and it can bloom spring through fall,” Clay said, “with three flushes in northern climates.”

Lil Sizzle (S. japonica ‘SMSJMLG’ PP30709, 2½ feet tall by 2½ 5 feet wide, Zones 4–9) was introduced at the same time as ‘Lil’ Flirt’, a counterpart with a similar form but with bright orange leaves in spring that age into yellow foliage. Clay said they while yellow foliage spirea often burn in the sun, ‘Lil’ Sizzle’ holds up, without succumbing, making it an improvement.

Walberton’s® Plumtastic Spirea is a recent introduction. Photo courtesy of Monrovia.

A year later, in 2018, Monrovia introduced Walberton’s ® Plumtastic Spirea (S. japonica ‘Walplum’, 16–24 inches tall by 16–24 inches wide, Zones 4–9) because it offered something a new introduction should — it does something better. The first flushes of Plumtastic emerge in spring a plum color that are glossy and fresh, and then colorful buds open to cerise-colored flowers that contrast with the green summer foliage that turns burgundy in fall.

As it is a repeat bloomer, Clay says it is one of her favorite crops to visit in the fields.

‘Goldflame’ is on it’s way out of fashion. Photo courtesy of Monrovia.

For a species that leans toward pink, pink-hued and even nearly red blooms, Yeti ™ (S. japonica ‘Conspiyet’, 2–3 feet tall by 3 feet wide, Zones 4–9) is an uncommon addition, with “beautiful crisp white flowers that are self-cleaning,” Clay said. “It’s a really good plant that sometimes gets overlooked.”At Bailey, one of the last two S. japonica it added is new to the catalog this year: First Editions ® Little Spark ® (S. japonica ‘Minspil04’ PP30819, 18–24 inches tall by 18–30 inches wide, Zones 3–8). This introduction marks the beginning of the nursery phasing out ‘Goldflame’ (S. japonica ‘Goldflame’) because of evidence it reverts to a variegated habit, according to Lonnee.

Little Spark, developed by Minier Nursery (France), holds up to full sun with orange new growth and pink flowers that hang just above the yellow summer foliage and reappear in late summer if sheared after the first flush.

Double Play® Candy Corn® provides unique color through fall.
Photo courtesy of Monrovia.

The other more recent addition to the Bailey catalog, Double Play ® Candy Corn ® (S. japonica ‘NCSX1’ PP28313, 18–24 inches tall by 18–30 inches wide, Zones 4–7) has new growth that emerges bright orange-red, continues to emerge orange all season and matures to yellow. LeCompte describes the blooms as a dark purple, and because the plant is sterile, there is no weediness. ‘Candy Corn’ is the number-one seller at Spring Meadow as it makes a perfect round spring plant with interest that continues into fall.

“It’s a beautiful plant with some interesting coloration,” Lonnee said. With some production challenges growing in containers, Bailey may or may not continue with it. “Most spiraea are easy to grow,” she said. “This one is just sensitive in containers to over and under watering and does not root out as some of the others.”

Candy Corn is a Proven Winners ® selection earning a patent in 2017, and one of two in the Double Play series developed by Thomas Ranney of North Carolina State University. The other is Double Play ® Doozie ® (S. japonica ‘NCSX2’ PP30953, 2–3 feet tall by 2–3 feet wide, Zones 3–8), a sterile variety patented in 2018. “It is a non-stop flowering machine with deep red new growth in spring that ages to dark green,” LeCompte said. The flowers are purple, reblooming from early summer through frost, with no dead-heading necessary.

Double Play® Artisan® is a reliable rebloomer. Photo courtesy of Monrovia.

The Double Play series was introduced in 2009 when Spring Meadow unveiled Double Play ® Artisan ® (S. japonica ‘Galen’) and Double Play ® Gold (S. japonica ‘Yan’). Spring Meadow still grows the aforementioned top-selling classic Japanese spirea that have been on the market for more than 20 years because they are good garden plants. Yet, the company continues to look for improvements such as brighter and longer-lasting flowers that don’t fade, increased disease and mildew resistance, sterility to decrease weediness and more dynamic spring foliage.

“Better spring flushes means there is less pressure to have blooms on the plants for better early sales,” LeCompte said.

Double Play ® Big Bang ® (S. japonica ‘Tracy’, 2–3 feet tall by 2–3 feet wide, Zones 3–8), a 2020 winner of the KVBC-Award Gold Medal awarded by the Royal Boskoop Horticultural Society trials committee is an example of better new growth.

“It flushes in red and yellow and ages to a nice chartreuse,” LeCompte said. The “bang” is also in the pink flowers, which are exceptionally large.

Double Play ® Gold (18–24 inches tall by 16–24 inches high, Zones 3–8) erupts in spring with bright golden foliage that holds all season and is topped with vibrant hot pink summer flowers. LeCompte pairs it with dark-foliaged plants like Jazz Hands Variegated ® loropetalum (Loropetalum chinense ‘Irodori’ USPP 27,713), crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia spp.) and dark hollies (Ilex spp.).

Double Play® Painted Lady features attractive, variegated leaves.
Photo courtesy of Spring Meadow

In the trial garden, LeCompte claims every visitor stopped in their tracks when coming across Double Play ® Painted Lady (S. japonica ‘Minspi’, 24–36 inches tall by 24–36 inches wide, Zones 4–9). The cream and yellow variegation that looks almost painted on.

“It’s a little bit of a slower grower, but it’s worth it for the foliage alone,” he said.

Double Play ® Pink (S. japonica ‘SMNSJMFP’, 24–36 inches tall by 24–36 inches wide, Zones 3–8) has a dark red new flush that ages to green, but is known more for its massive amounts of vibrant pink flowers.

(Right) Double Play® Red is the most red colored spiraea. Photo courtesy of Spring Meadow

Also, Double Play ® Red (S. japonica ‘SMNSJMFR’, 24–36 inches tall by 24–36 inches wide, Zones 3–8) is a breakthrough, with the closest red of any spirea, according to LeCompte. Its showy dark burgundy foliage in spring later turns to green.

With a solid selection of proven and newer varieties to choose from, we can expect the small to medium-sized shrubs of Japanese spirea to be best-sellers and hardy additions to gardens and landscapes for at least another century.

Tracy Ilene Miller is a freelance writer and editor who covers several topics, including gardening. She can be reached at [email protected] .

Where to find Japanese spireas

Oregon is a great place to buy plants. Nursery Guide is a great place to find them. Simply use our powerful search feature to locate the plants you need and the wholesale growers who offer them. If you are having trouble with your search, try part of the botanical name or common name, or call us at 503-682-5089 for assistance.

NurseryGuide.com currently has growers listing many different types of Japanese spireas, including 10 that are featured in this article. There are also Vanhoutte spireas, Douglas spireas and others as well. This is just a sampling of what you can find on the site with your plant search:

• Spiraea japonica ‘Goldflame’
• Spiraea japonica ‘Little Princess’
• Spiraea japonica ‘Magic Carpet’
• Spiraea japonica ‘Anthony Waterer’
• Spiraea japonica ‘Neon Flash’
• Spiraea japonica ‘Shirobana’
• Spiraea japonica Double Play Red
• Spiraea japonica Froebelii
• Spiraea japonica Double Play Gold
• Spiraea japonica Dakota Goldcharm

Growers!

Add your name to the list of growers offering these spireas. Just log on to www.NurseryGuide.com to get started. You must be an OAN member.

Missing plant?

If you grow any spirea and it is not seen here, you can still list it in the Nursery Guide. If it is not in our database, we will add it, including cultural information, description, photos and more. Log in to get started. Contact us at [email protected] if you need help.

About Tracy Ilene Miller

Tracy Ilene Miller is a freelance writer and editor who covers several topics, including gardening. She can be reached at [email protected].

Magic Carpet Spirea

The Magic Carpet Spirea is a low-growing deciduous shrub, reaching no more than 2 feet tall, but spreading up to 3 feet wide. It carries a kaleidoscope of leaf colors, starting the year bright red, then turning golden-yellow and ending in fall with glowing russet reds. All through June and July it is covered in clusters of bright pink blooms, and it makes a great addition to even the smallest garden. Perfect for filling the fronts of beds, making borders, or planting on slopes, it is an easy, trouble-free way to brighten your garden without adding garden work to your busy schedule.

• Bright red new leaves bring spring color
• Golden yellow leaves all summer long
• Pink flowers through the summer months
• Fall leaves are russet-red
• Tough and reliable low-growing shrub

Grow the Magic Carpet Spirea in full sun for the best colors and blooming. Unlike its parent, the Goldflame Spirea, it won’t send up plain green stems, and it sprouts earlier in the year too. Hardy in zone 3, but heat resistant even in zone 8, it grows in any well-drained soil, even in urban conditions. Pests and diseases are never a problem. A simple annual trim is all the work needed – and that is optional.

Spirea bushes are among the most reliable and hardy of all our garden shrubs. This is especially true with the ones that have colored foliage, and of them all, the stand-out variety is the Goldflame spirea. With its bright red and golden foliage, it is one of the most useful plants for filling spaces in the garden with color but little work. But sometimes it is too large, reaching 3 or 4 feet tall, and just as wide, and it has some other faults as well. That’s when you need the Magic Carpet Spirea, and the name says it all. Low growing to no more than 2 feet, but spreading up to 3 feet wide, this beauty has all the great coloring of Goldflame – in fact the new leaves are even redder. Plus, its leaves and flowers come earlier, and it doesn’t have that annoying habit of sending out ‘plain Jane’ green stems frequently, which Goldflame is prone to do. It is just as tough and reliable though, so if you love color and you don’t want tall, then this is a magic carpet ride you definitely want to take.

Some varieties even have contrasting colors, with darker patterns or speckles on lighter backgrounds. One of the most fascinating aspects of the Phalaenopsis Magic Art is its ability to produce multiple buds and flowers on a single stem. This characteristic makes it a popular choice for indoor gardening and flower arrangements.

Growing the Magic Carpet Spirea

Size and Appearance

The Magic Carpet Spirea is a dense deciduous shrub growing to between 1 and 2 feet tall. It has a broad, spreading habit, so it will grow 2 to 3 feet wide, while staying low and compact. The leaves are small and neat, typically about 1 inch long and ½ inch wide, but on vigorous shoots they could be twice that size. They are oval, with fine serrations along the edges. This bush has a full and dense look, with many fine branches creating a solid plant. The leaves appear early in spring, a whole month before Goldflame begins to sprout (that shrub is well known for staying bare and twiggy well into the spring). The new leaves are bright cherry red, adding a punch to your garden as it starts another season. As the leaves mature they do a remarkable trick, turning a stunning golden yellow. Your red bush is now gold, but the new leaves keep their red coloring. This makes a bright and cheerful two-tone effect that looks great anywhere in your garden. In fall they change again, to a rich, russet-red, making a final splash of color for the end of the season.

Once the leaves are fully open and gold, flowering begins, and this continues through June and July, and sometimes again in September. The flower clusters grow at the ends of the shoots, in a dome-shaped cluster about 2 inches across. The bright-pink flowers are small, but they make up for it in their abundance, with up to 200 flowers in a single cluster, and many clusters all across the plant. The unusual combination of pink and yellow is not an obvious one, but it works like a charm.

Using the Magic Carpet Spirea in Your Garden

The broad spreading form of this plant makes it perfect for filling the front of your shrub beds, in bold clumps or as a continuous edging. It is neat enough to make a low hedge with no more than a single trim a year. In smaller beds it is perfect as an accent plant. Use it on either side of an entrance, or where a set of steps begins or ends. Plant it among rocks and boulders with other low plants for a great effect. Use it around trees, or in planters under larger shrubs or trees. Carpet a slope or bank for colorful and effective erosion control and a terrific look.

Hardiness

The Magic Carpet Spirea is super-hardy, growing well right through zone 3. Yet it also grows in warmer areas, even in zone 8, with great resistance to hot weather.

Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions

Full sun is the perfect spot for the Magic Carpet Spirea, so put it right out there, where it will give you the brightest leaf colors and the most flowers. It can also tolerate a few hours of shade each day, but too much shade will turn the leaves greenish. It will grow well in just about any well-drained soil, including poor soils and in tough urban settings.

Maintenance and Pruning

This tough and reliable plant is generally free of any significant pests or diseases, and it thrives with almost no care. A trim in early spring, before the leaves appear, will keep it looking perfect. You might also like to give it a quick trim once the main flowering is over, to remove the spent flower heads and stimulate some fresh new leaves, but if you don’t those flower heads will soon disappear beneath new stems. After some years you might consider cutting it back to a few inches tall, to invigorate and renew it completely.

History and Origin of the Magic Carpet Spirea

Back in the 19th century, when Japan was being opened up to trade, many new plants were introduced. One was a shrub with pink flowers that today we know as the Anthony Waterer Spirea, which was brought to England from a Japanese nursery in 1870. Experts disagree about its origins. Some think it is simply a variety of the Japanese spirea, Spiraea japonica. Others think it is a hybrid between that plant and another called Spiraea albiflora and should be called Spiraea x bumalda. For gardeners it doesn’t really matter that much. In 1972 the F.J. Grootendorst nursery, in Boskoop, Holland, introduced a plant that was found as a novel golden-leaf stem growing on ‘Anthony Waterer’. They called it ‘Goldflame’, and it became a garden standard.

Around 1990 David Tristram, at the Walberton Nursery in West Sussex, England, collected some seed from a plant of ‘Goldflame’. He chose the best and most compact plants among the seedlings, let them seed and did it all again. He did it one more time and among those third-generation seedlings was a unique plant that he named ‘Walbuma’. It was patented in 1995 (PP# 9,363, now expired), and this is the plant widely known and sold as the Magic Carpet Spirea.

Buying the Magic Carpet Spirea at The Tree Center

The Magic Carpet Spirea is a great low-growing shrub, with significant improvements over the older ‘Goldflame’, and a great garden plant in so many ways. These reliable, colored-leaf shrubs are always immensely popular, so our stock never lasts long. Order now and take a ride into the magic of colorful, low-maintenance gardening – don’t wait.

The long stems can support several flowers at once, creating an eye-catching display of colors and shapes. Caring for Phalaenopsis Magic Art orchids requires specific attention to their growing conditions. These orchids prefer indirect sunlight, and they should be placed in a location with bright, filtered light. The temperature should be kept between 65 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit (18 to 27 degrees Celsius), and humidity levels should be around 50 to 70 percent. It is important to water the orchids regularly but avoid overwatering, as this can lead to root rot. To enhance the growth and blooming of Phalaenopsis Magic Art orchids, it is recommended to fertilize them with a balanced orchid fertilizer every two weeks during the growing season. Repotting should be done every one to two years, using a well-draining orchid potting mix. With proper care and attention, the Phalaenopsis Magic Art orchid can bloom for several weeks, adding a touch of magic and elegance to any space. Whether displayed as a standalone plant or used in floral arrangements, these orchids are sure to captivate and amaze with their enchanting beauty..

Reviews for "The Therapeutic Effects of Cultivating Phalaenopsis Magic Ary Orchids"

1. Rebecca - ★☆☆☆☆

I was really excited to get my hands on the "Phalaenopsis magic ary" because I had heard amazing things about it, but I was extremely disappointed. The orchid arrived looking wilted and unhealthy, and despite my best efforts to revive it, it ultimately died within a week. I've had orchids before and know how to care for them, so it wasn't a lack of knowledge on my part. I was really let down by the poor quality of this plant and the fact that it didn't live up to its reputation.

2. David - ★★☆☆☆

I bought the "Phalaenopsis magic ary" as a gift for my mother, who is an avid gardener. She was initially excited to receive it, but we were both disappointed with the overall quality. The plant was small, had few flowers, and didn't look as vibrant as advertised. My mother followed all the care instructions provided, but the plant still struggled to thrive. It was a letdown, especially considering the price we paid for it. We expected better from a reputable brand like "Phalaenopsis magic ary".

3. Emily - ★★☆☆☆

I ordered the "Phalaenopsis magic ary" online after reading rave reviews, but unfortunately, my experience was far from positive. When the orchid arrived, the packaging was damaged and the plant itself looked limp and unhealthy. I contacted customer service, but their response was slow and unhelpful. Despite my efforts to revive the orchid, it ultimately succumbed to its poor condition and died within days. I would not recommend purchasing this orchid, as the quality and customer service were both disappointing.

Capturing the Magic with Phalaenopsis Magic Ary Orchids: Tips for Photography