Deutzia 'Nikko'

With stunning foliage and fragrant flowers, this old-fashioned flowering shrub has it all. A low-growing dwarf, Deutzia 'Nikko' is dense and rounded with gracefully arching branches of ovate to lanceolate green leaves. Upright panicles of pure white flowers emerge in late spring to thoroughly cover this little shrub. The flowers resemble tiny stars and have a clump of yellow antlers in their center. In fall, the foliage turns an attractive shade of deep burgundy.

Low maintenance and easy to grow, this deciduous perennial thrives with plenty of sun and moist, well-drained soil, although Deutzia 'Nikko' is quite adaptable to adverse growing conditions. To remove dead branches and/or manipulate the shape, give Deutzia 'Nikko' a nice pruning in the spring after flowering. Pruning in late winter will sacrifice the flowers in the spring season.

Deutzia 'Nikko' shows to best effect planted in mass, but Deutzia 'Nikko' slowly spreads over time, so Deutzia 'Nikko' works well as a groundcover and is particularly lovely cascading over a low wall. Deutzia 'Nikko' makes a nice front edge of a shrub border or informal hedge and is equally at home in woodland and urban gardens. Butterflies won't be able to resist the attractive bush, but deer will usually leave Deutzia 'Nikko' alone.