No clue, but so glad you're back posting!!

The only spirea I have is ash-leaved spirea, which isn't actually a spirea. :0)

I'm so glad you're back as well!! You've been missed.

This is the first I've heard of Candy Corn spiraea but I sure like its looks and think it would make a good container plant. I'm gonna hunt one down.

I don't have personal experience with this beauty, but here's why.

I really like spireas in general, and this one ALWAYS makes me take a second look. Even though I always come back to reconsider it, the thing that stops me is the blooms. The foliage on this is gorgeous, but I don't know that I actually like the plant in bloom - pink flowers with the orangey green foliage - just a bit too much going on for me lol.

I'm hoping someone here has it and can report back with info on the blooms, etc. Perhaps it is worth putting up with the pink blooms for a few weeks to have this beautiful foliage...

Welcome back!

:)

Dee

So good to have you back!!!! I can't help but it is very attractive, I did read that the flowers are supposed to be dark purple.

I have an old Spiraea planted by a previous owner. The leaves turn those same gold and copper colors. The flowers are light purple/pink. People here usually keep Spiraea clipped into tight clumps. Im aiming for a more natural look using Queen of the Prairie, Spriraea latifolia and S. alba.

Update: I scattered Standing Cypress seeds all around, late last summer, and only 1 plant germinated. I have to order more seeds to scatter for next year ASAP.

Spirea japonica is invasive in the mid-Atlantic so none for me. But I'm chiming in to say welcome back!

(Hi @cecily 7A, there seems to be several references indicating that this particular japonica is sterile but who knows for sure).

I grew Spiraea japonica Magic Carpet in a previous garden for many years. It also has that vivid foliage that goes through color changes from a coral red to orange to a chartreuse goldy-green. And pink flowers! Not a great combo IMO and I dislike pink anyway. So I just sheared them off whenever buds appeared. It kept the shrub nice and compact and encouraged a new flush of that colorful foliage.

Candy Corn looks a bit more intensely colored but have yet to see in person.

but I don't know that I actually like the plant in bloom - pink flowers with the orangey green foliage - just a bit too much going on for me

@diggerdee zone 6 CT, I understand completely your concern...quite astute you are :). I am hoping others in the group have "real life" pictures of it in bloom to see how close the colour is to "dark purple" as @peren.all Zone 5a Ontario Canada saw on line.

Related to spirea flower colour...this past early July I spotted some spirea, not "Candy Corn", in the garden of a rural inn/lodge and the flower colour was gorgeous. (It was more red than you are seeing in the picture.)

(I have never had a spirea in our garden and I guess for some reason I thought that spireas were pretty much finished flowering by early July and so this clump caught my eye)

In my part of MN, Candy Corn is beautiful in the spring then photobleaches in the summer. Overall, a weak plant compared to other gold leaf spirea.

I scattered Standing Cypress seeds all around, late last summer, and only 1 plant germinated.

Hey @Jay 6a Chicago, whenever I see our Ipomopsis rubra in flower I think of you ;).

Here are three clumps from a few weeks ago.

And so far looking good for next year as I have rosettes in various locations in the garden right now...fingers crossed:

photobleaches in the summer.

@pennlake do you consider the photo that I posted in the first thread, taken this month and representative of other CC I saw at another nursery, as "photo bleached"? If so then it is personal preference as I was star struck when I saw these at the garden centres. From a distance the bits of red looked like small flowers.

(Part of the appeal of CC, and correct me if I am wrong, is that it is very compact at maturity (2 feet tall by about 3 feet wide)).

No those pots look nice. What I see is the leaves turn white and then burn.

The photo I took was taken in August. I am confident that they have been there for awhile. I will have an opportunity to visit again in a couple of weeks (hope they are still there!)

Yes the grower did a good job with those pots making them look nice. just reporting what I see in the landscape in MN. Weaker growing and tendency to bleach to white in full sun.

Well I have bought one as an 'experiment', which I will plant later this September and see how it fares next summer.

I don’t have Candy Corn (yet!) so I don’t have anything to offer by way of experience, but I did save this inspo photo from one of the Facebook gardening groups I’m in; I thought the color combo was just lovely!

Great to see you around, rouge21!

Great pic @lovemycorgi z5b SE michigan. That pic is stunning and with that foliage it wouldnt matter to me whether or not it was in bloom. I have been waffling in my mind about doing a border of it but @pennlake comment re his experience with it had me backing off.

Hey rouge21, I tried to send you a pm, but it’s forcing me to log in to the Houzz side and I’m loathe to do that for fear I won’t be able to get back to the gardenweb side.

If you’re interested, the group I found the photo in is ”Proven Winners Gorgeous Gardens”. Just do a search for ”candy corn spirea” using the search function in the group and the post will pop up in the search results (just scroll down a bit).

All good @lovemycorgi z5b SE michigan. Thanks for the reply. I have decided to plant multiple CC.....life's too short to waffle 😏.

❤️I haven't seen them for sale in Colorado Springs...but the photos you posted are lovely.

Just today I was walking into the same grocery store from which I had bought 3 CC back in early September. There were still some remaining, looking very healthy at a now much lower price of 11$ Cad/$7.85 USD/5.90 pounds sterling. I have tried convincing myself that I can fit in another one or two but I really cant.

4 In the ground since mid September; they have experienced snow and cold. Here is a pic of one of them as of yesterday. These shrubs have nice late Fall colour.

So with all the rain happening in my neck of the woods, it is too wet to be in the garden. So instead I took a drive to a quality nursery about 20 minutes away. Walking down the rows of hardy shrubs and trees...none showing much colour, I was bowled over by this group of "Candy Corn":

Now for sure these plants came from a cozy greenhouse before being brought to the nursery but wowser that is some colour. I am actually a bit surprised as I was expecting more lighter "limey" green. But I am thinking that those lighter colours will happen later.

Stunning colour rouge!

Wow! You may have convinced me about this plant rouge. Pink flowers be damned, I may have to go out and buy one or five anyway! It just seems like this plant has a lot to offer, with three seasons of beautiful color.

Please report back with the color of the flowers when in bloom. I may just have to take a page out of gardengal's book and shear off the blooms if they are too pink. It would be worth it, it seems, to have this foliage in the garden.

:)

Dee

Do it Dee...even if only one...to start ;).

(And it is clearly quite hardy as it was an extra chilly winter, their first winter in the ground, and all 4 came through it easily)

Please report back with the color of the flowers when in bloom.

Hey @diggerdee zone 6 CT

I hadnt forgotten about your request and I can report that there were no flowers on any of the 5 CC I have. I have no idea why as they look just fine otherwise. Its weird. Here is one today:

That's odd... not necessarily a BAD thing in this case, hahaha. But seriously, it is interesting that they did not bloom. But they are looking good!

:)

Dee

August 31: