The only word that comes to mind is WOW!! I left mine behind when I moved here but I just might have to look for a replacement. Does anyone know if they produce seeds? I have really amazing luck growing stuff from seed.

That is fabulous mary lou. Sigh, I'll miss mine terribly this year. All the buds on mine were frozen.

Thanks gardenweed and schoolhouse. I am thinking of purchasing a couple more, but not sure where I could plant them! I think they are so pretty and such an appropriate "old" plant. My grandmother had a hedge of them that I remember well from when I was a child.

I just had a thought. Do either of you know what the actual name is? I know it is a spirea but I have heard it referred to as Bridal Veil and also as Bridal Wreath. I think they are the same bush? From searches on the Internet and pictures they appear the same.

oh darn...hit post before I was ready!

gardenweed, I have no idea if they grow from seed. Have not seen any seedlings. But then again I am terrible growing things from seed!

schoolhouse, so sorry that you lost your blooms for this year. We have been having quite a few nights of frost or near frost too. But as this is planted so close to the house, I think it was protected.

Just beautiful! Wish i had a bigger yard to put one in. I've only heard it as bridal wreath spirea.

Pure eye candy.

Annette

That is absolutely beautiful in bloom. I'd be hard pressed to not sit out all day and stare at it.
Cher

Gorgeous! I've somehow only had (inherited) them in shade and have never seen one one look so lush.

One of my favs!!! I transplanted mine to a new bed with a weigela on either side!

My gosh, so that's how they are supposed to look. I have about a dozen, but never have they bloomed like yours. What a thing of beauty. I would have those everywhere!
Renee

That's a beauty!

It is spiraea vanhouttei. What a lovely specimen, so graceful draping your porch.

I remember my mother always referred to it as bridal wreath, I'm assuming because brides would twine stems of it into wreaths for their hair. Might be a good question to stump the "experts" with. There used to be a mature one growing here in full sun but it's gone and I have no idea what happened to it. Well, given my age, I may know perfectly well what happened to it and flat-out don't remember!

One year my friend's brother gave her a spirea and she liked it but was disappointed that it didn't have "the small round leaves" like the old fashioned variety. I pretended to know what she was talking about and didn't until recently check the leaves on mine. I think they are small but look normal to me i.e. slightly elongated. Which variety could she be speaking of?

Sorry mary lou, I kind of went OT. I should have started a new thread.

Thanks everyone! I went out this evening and just sat on the porch for a while enjoying it.

schoolhouse, not really off topic. You are just asking another question along the sames lines as I did. Hope someone is able to answer it for you. I can't, sorry.

I had no real idea what the name of this plant actually was or that it was even a spirea. So when I went to buy one, as I thought our home needed one, I just asked the very knowledgeable sales manager at our local garden center if she had any of the old fashioned bridal veil/bridal wreath that you so often see around old homes. She knew exactly what I was talking about and directed me to the ones they had. So I just got lucky!

That is a thing of beauty! It does bring up a good question though. I have 'Bridal Wreath' and I wonder MaryLu, if you could get a close up shot of the flowers. My mom has a spiraea that she always simply called vanhouttei, but it has large flowers than my 'Bridal Wreath' and the habit is much more like yours. Mine has what appear to be smaller flowers than yours and grows more upright than like your fountain. My mom's grows very similar to yours. I hadn't ever thought that 'Bridal Wreath' actually WAS a spiraea vanhouttei.

That is beautiful. So full of blooms. Bridal Wreath or Bridal Veil...surely understand the 'Bridal' part.

Lovely.
kay

Both spiraea vanhouttei and prunifolium are referred to as Bridal Wreath.

Here is vanhouttei:
{{gwi:663821}}

Here is the earlier blooming prunifolium (small flowers on upright stems):
{{gwi:663824}}

Today I found two white buds on one of mine, and a tiny clump of white buds on another - woo hoo. :(

Thanks Mantis. That helps.

Beautiful shrub!

My mother had a lovely one of these (the vanhouttei as I know know). I have no place in my yard with full sun, but I think I may just have to try one anyway. I do have one that was here when we moved in, but it is in too much shade, so blooms are very, very sparse.

Yours is magnificent! Thanks so much for inspiring all of us! :)

OMG,talk about Beauty,that tops the list!!! Wonder if they will grow in S.Calif.Guess i better visit google.
TFS
LOVE IT
Kathi

The one I had growing where I used to live must have been the prunifolium rather than the vanhouttei since it didn't have the cascading form. Stunning shrub either way and such a bright spot in the garden early in the season. The one that used to grow here was also the upright form and it was planted beside the lilac so they often bloomed around the same time. The lilac remains and has more blooms now that I dump wood ashes on it every January. They definitely do much better in full sun. I have lots more of that thanks to last October's catastrophic storm.

Kathi, they grow here but they don't look like that. At least mine don't. They are still spectacular. I have been posting mine in the CA Forum under Spirea Photo of the Day.
Renee

Renee, the one you have posted in the California forum appears to be cantoniensis, which is the Reeve's double form of bridal wreath. Too many bridal wreaths!

Has anybody checked the shape of the leaves on their spirea? I'm still curious about what my friend refers to as "the old fashioned white spirea with the little round leaves".

I have 3 different spireas, lost the tags and didn't write the names down. Two are blooming now and one blooms later. I'll take some pictures tomorrow maybe someone here can tell me which ones I have. My favorite is very feathery with light green leaves.

Annette

Sorry I haven't replied sooner. Have been off the computer for a couple of days. So much good knowledge to be found here!

Now I know why the bridal wreath I bought for my daughter was not like mine. It must have been the prunifolium? She was so disappointed, as it did not grow like mine. I thought it must have been mislabeled, as it was labeled bridal wreath. I never realized there were so many versions of bridal wreath!!

It is not looking quite so nice now, as we have had several very hard rains which have knocked it down some. But still pretty. I wish I had room to plant a couple more!

I have two white flowering spirea that were growing here. In my neck of the woods -- which may be a litle bit delayed behind yours, Gardenweed -- they are just budding now. Alas, not the long fountain branches, but quite lovely in bloom. They sucker prolifically -- at least mine do, so no need to start from seed. I'm happy to offer shoots. Does anyone know if the draping van houtenii also sucker?
lucia