I'd lean towards Magic Carpet or Goldflame. Do they have very intense burgundy spring foliage? Magic Carpet is so common but its one of the best. Stays a bit more tidey and has very vibrant spring foliage. I use to be a spirea nut, just because they where so easy to grow and adaptable to various soils, exposures and moisture. Snowmound was by far the worst of them all. They are in my top 5 worst shrubs that can be grown in my area. They suffer from dieback and thin out. Double Play Artist is probably my next favorite spirea. I thought I recall it being a superior variety over AW. And my third is Tor Spirea. All others are inferior in my opinion.

I think you are talking about the little Japanese spirea, which get the pink flowers, stay about 30" tall. If so, you can prune these sharply each spring. I try to cut mine before leaf buds get going to save plant's energy for regrowth. You can still cut them if leaves have started, just remove less stick. I take off about 6 inches, but mine have no leaves when trimmed. If the leaves are bigger than your fingernail, I would only take 3-4 inches off. Take out any dead sticks, thin out the middle area. This lets air move around more easily, preventing problems and dead stick (no leaves) centers in bush. I find my Japanese spireas bloom very well with this program. I also get real good color in the leaves, with bush being quite thick all season. I have the Lime and Gold Mound bushes in two locations for their color. Pruning seems to aid color intensity as well.

Spiraea x bumalda is an incorrect name for Spiraea japonica. I am certain that Spiraea 'Crispa' and Double Play Doozie® are sterile. But I do not believe that Neon Flash or Dart's Red are sterile. I have never seen Spiraea japonica growing or seeding into the wild here in Michigan. But if it is a problem in your area, I would suggest you use these sterile varieties. 'Crispa' is a very dwarf variety with crinkly, dark green leaves. It is a bit of a collectors plant and hard to find. Double Play Doozie® is new variety from NCSU. As a sterile triploid (3x), it is seedless and puts its energy into making new flowers all summer long.

GOOD NEWS: the boxes of shrubs arrived Saturday and my wonderful mail delivery person put them into my hallway for me, out of the hot baking sun stupid Fedex left them in. They are all in fantastic shape. I have never seen such wonderful specimens of these plants. They are lushly leafed out and Berry Dazzle is already flowering. They were extremely well packed, too. I have to give a resounding recommendation for Sooner Plant Farm in Oklahoma. I can hardly wait to dig out the garden bed for the Candy Corn to have a home. The first of the backyard cedar beds should arrive tomorrow. I'll assemble it and tack the 1/4" hardware cloth to the bottom to hopefully discourage voles and such. Then the Infinitini Purple dwarf crape myrtle will go into the top compartment, to be followed by some carefully selected companions. Berry Dazzle will get a cleared circle in the front yard, maybe with some smooth river stones defining the circle. The landscape crew removed the nasty poison-ivy-ridden privet hedge from the back edge of my backyard. Within the foliage, we found a garbage can lid, a Frisbee, 2 dozen assorted little balls, and a very young rabbit. No more privet. Each was taken out, roots and all, and a trench dug to keep rainwater from my behind neighbor's hilly yard from simply running into mine. Tuesday or Wednesday, I get my vinyl privacy fence. My contractor is baaaack. He can't work long hours or crouch much due to his healing ACL injury, but he's back in the saddle. Eventually I'll get the interior of the house completed at last. He already removed the concrete plugs from the now-removed kiddie swing set, freeing up my side yard. I am excited to finally leave my 7 weeks of stasis. We on the move now!