Spiraea japonica 'Magic Carpet®' – 'Magic Carpet®' Japanese Spirea

Illuminate your garden beds with the 'Magic Carpet' Japanese spirea, a compact little shrub that deploys a true firework of changing colours throughout the seasons. Its young spring shoots burst into vibrant shades of red and bronze, later transforming into a sparkling golden carpet. Early in the summer, a profusion of bright pink flower clusters crowns this luminous foliage, creating a striking contrast that catches the eye every time. Easy to grow and highly resilient, this miniature shrub structures your space with brilliance and brings an incomparable touch of radiance to both small and large landscapes.

Characteristics

• Foliage : Deciduous. The oblong leaves open to a copper orange-red in spring, turn lime green and golden yellow in summer, and then take on magnificent copper and russet tints in autumn.
• Flowering / Fruiting / Stems : Produces numerous flat-topped corymb flower clusters of an intense purplish pink from June to July. Thin, branched stems form a dense dome.
• Light : Offers its most beautiful colours when planted in full sun, but tolerates partial shade.
• Habit : Bushy, compact, and naturally rounded.
• Growth : Average growth rate, reaching a maximum height of about 60 cm and a spread of 60 to 90 cm.
• Soil : Adapts to a wide variety of well-drained, loose soils.

Use

• Types of use : Ideal for bordering walkways, structuring the foreground of flower beds, or forming colorful low mass plantings. Performs beautifully in containers to brighten up terraces and balconies.
• Decorative advantages : Offers a spectacular chromatic succession from spring to autumn and creates a striking contrast of textures and colours alongside dark or bluish foliage plants.

Maintenance

• Watering : Water regularly during the first year following planting to encourage root establishment. Thereafter, maintain a slightly cool soil and water mainly during heatwaves.
• Fertilization : Apply a rich compost or a granular fertilizer for trees and shrubs early in the spring to stimulate the vigor and luminosity of the foliage.
• Pruning : Prune the shrub severely early in the spring, before the appearance of new leaves, cutting it back to about 15-20 cm from the ground to encourage dense growth and a generous flowering. Remove faded flowers in summer to stimulate a light production of new blooms.
• Planting : Dig a hole twice as wide as the root ball, incorporate high-quality potting soil, and space plants 60 to 75 cm apart for use in a low hedge or mass planting.
• Winter Protection : Apply a layer of leaf or bark mulch at the base in autumn to protect the root system during the first frosts without snow.