I guess this week I'm on a kick of enjoying old-fashioned flowers.
At the house where I grew up there was a hedge of four or five of these bushes- bridal wreath spirea (or spiraea).
Because of the drooping aspect of the branches weighted down with blossoms, there was a "secret cave" beneath those bushes where I used to play.
As I mentioned before, these flowers were always part of the Memorial Day bouquets we placed on graves. There were so many of them we could cut many sprays and never miss them.
The plant seems so all-American it's hard to accept that the shrub is native to Korea, Japan and China. It can now be found in almost every state east of the Mississippi.
Look at the flowers close up. Don't they look a lot like the cherry and pear blossoms? That's because they are cousins, all in the Rosaceae family. Those five petals and long stamens are typical.
The species name for this is Spiraea prunifolia.
Like the snowball bush, I found these in the cemetery.
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They do look a lot like the blossoms we got on the pear tree we used to have. So pretty.
ReplyDeleteI too grew up with a spiraea hedge. They are beautiful and the blossoms do look like fruit blossoms.
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