Spiraea japonica Double Play Kazoo

Spiraea japonica 'Double Play Kazoo' is part of a series of Japanese spiraeas selected for their small size and beautifully coloured foliage. With a compact habit and distinctly bluish foliage, which comes alive in summer with young shoots tinged with red and burgundy, this bush also offers pretty white flower corymbs that are much visited by colourful butterflies throughout the summer. At the end of the season its vibrant autumn colours grab the attention. Low-maintenance and undemanding, this adorable little shrub, highly ornamental throughout most of the year, will earn a place in any garden, even the smallest. Its compact and rounded habit makes it suitable for borders or low beds, as well as for container or pot cultivation.

'Double Play Kazoo' Japanese Spiraea belongs to the Rosaceae family. It is a cultivar derived from Spiraea japonica, a botanical species native to China and Japan. This plant has fast growth and will reach an average adult size of 80 cm (32in) in all directions. Forming a very dense small shrub with a bushy and rounded habit, this variety showcases original foliage with refined and changing tones. It is tinged with red when it buds, gradually turning green-blue. It turns red and orange in autumn before falling. Its small leaves are oblong in shape with dentate edges. The flowers appear on the current year's wood in June-July, and again until the end of summer if faded ones are removed. They are grouped in medium-sized terminal corymbs, 6-8 cm (2-3in) wide, slightly spherical. They are composed of numerous small white flowers. This prolonged flowering period is also very nectar-rich and attractive to bees, butterflies, and bumblebees.

The 'Double Play Kazoo' Spiraea is a first rate variety for landscaping projects. It adapts to all climates and soils, disliking only scorching or excessively arid conditions. This plant works wonders as a low hedge or to form the framework of a perennial bed, as well as in large borders. It will also thrive in containers on terraces and balconies, with regular watering and fertilisation. Combine Japanese Spiraea with white, pink, or mauve roses, as well as with small shrubby potentillas, Caryopteris, or shrubby salvias. You can also place it at the forefront of a rustic hedge, accompanied by other dwarf spiraeas (Spiraea betulifolia), dwarf red willow (Salix purpurea nana), the 'Miss Kim' dwarf Manchurian lilac, the alternate-leaved butterfly bush (Buddleia alternifolia 'Unique'), or dwarf purple weigela (Nana purpurea).