I have a beautiful, deep purple leaved one, which I found in a nursery here in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The entire leaf is a luminous purple - not just the underside of the leaf. I have not been able to find out the name of it, nor have I been able to find it on the web. Does anyone know the name of it? It's obviously a hybrid form, but has the same tiny, white flowers as the species.

Tahitian Bridal Veil needs very high humidity to survive & live well. It is also really prone to spider mites if it doesn't get high humidity. I had a beautiful one when I lived in Tennessee, but once I moved back to California, it didn't survive. They hardly even sell them here because they can't survive long out of the greenhouse. If you do get one, put it in your highest humidity room in the sunniest window and use pebble trays to keep the humidity up.

A few years ago a friend gave me a tahitian bridal veil in a hanging basket. I hung it in a tree and didn't do much to it except try to remember to water it occasionally. A piece broke off--maybe a bird landed on it or something--and fell to the ground. I didn't do anything to it, but it rooted on its own and has since spread all over the yard, and the only time it's not in bloom is when I've pulled it by the armloads, or if it actually frosts a bit. It's really quite beautiful, and the bees love it, and it's impossible to kill. It seems to bloom in full shade, dappled shade, as close to full sun as we get around here-- I really see why people like it so much, and I still kinda do, but I do wish it weren't quite so enthusiastic about taking over. Our conditions certainly must favor it--lots of humidity, warm temperatures or hot, with the exception of a few months when it might get chilly and then warm again. I like the billowing ground cover effect. It even chokes out almost all weeds!

Oh Wendy - How awful!! From what I understand, the Bridal Veil Spirea blooms in the early part of the season, and so blooms on year old wood. If that's the case, then I feel for you. They are such pretty shrubs. Farfaraway - You are not off key in suggesting that weeds are prefered by bunnies. My DM has gorgeous gardens. Surrounding these gardens are lots of Dandelions. At first glance, when you see the wild rabbits, it looks like they are heading straight for her gardens, but they always stop at the edges and eat away at the dandelions and never go in. The grandkids love to see them! They found the entrance to the burrows last year and now will sit patiently at a distance to see them come out on Sunday mornings in the summer. And, yes, everyone, they do make good stews and meat pies!