Japanese name: コデマリ（小手毬） Scientific name:Spiraea cantoniensis
[Overview]
A deciduous shrub 1.5 m tall.
The branches are slender and branching, and their tips often droop in an arch.
Young branches are dark reddish brown.
The leaves are simple and alternate, 1.5–5 cm long and 0.6–2 cm wide, rhombic-elliptic to lanceolate, with coarse teeth on the margin of the upper half of the leaf.
The underside of the leaf is tinged with white, and the veins are conspicuous.
The petiole is 0.2–1 cm long.
Hemispherical corymbs at the tips of short branches bear about 20 white 5-petaled flowers.
There are 20 stamens.
The inflorescences are arranged side by side along the branches, and the flowers bloom so profusely that they cover the plant.
The fruit is a follicle.
[Cultivation]
Propagate by division or cuttings.
It prefers sunny, well-drained soil.
For potted plants, water thoroughly when the soil surface dries; for plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient unless summer brings a long spell of sunny weather and the soil becomes severely dry.
Apply organic fertilizer in winter, and after flowering place slow-release fertilizer on the soil as a thank-you fertilizer.
Flower buds form in autumn, so if pruning, do it as soon as possible after flowering.
Pests and diseases include powdery mildew and scale insects.
