Many gardeners love a perennial called Astilbe, but few gardeners in our area have had any prolonged success with them. Think of Ural False Spirea as a durable, and very large white Astilbe…..and you might be more tempted to grow them in your garden. Here are several more reasons: [1] It is one of the very first shrubs to leaf out in spring [2] The new leaves have a terrific copper, bronze, purple coloration [3] the leaves have a distinct, delicate, and rich "pleated" appearance throughout the growing season & [4] The bloom panicles are quite large, pure white, and very showy. Plant it in full sun to light shade, in good soil, and make sure you provide supplemental water during summer's high heat.

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The False Spirea is a very lovely shrub with its lacy leaves, attractive buds, and blooms that attract many types of bees and bugs. Despite its beauty, I dug it up in 2010 and tried to get rid of it because I found it to be too invasive. I pulled every root that I could find. Spring 2011 found this plant sending up suckers many feet away from the original growing site. I fear that in spring 2012 it will still be sending up suckers. I do not recommend this shrub.

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False Spiraea is a deciduous, multi-stemmed shrub native to Northern Asia and Japan that can attain a height and spread of up to 8'. The leaves are dark green with serrated edges and the showy white blooms are borne on terminal panicles during June and July. This shrub can spread aggressively by root suckers.

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