Spiraea Double Play® Candy Corn®

A Proven Winners® ColorChoice® Flowering Shrub, Spiraea Double Play® Candy Corn® is a stunning low-growing deciduous shrub that only reaches about 1½ to 2½ tall and wide. Truly colorful throughout the season, the kaleidoscopic foliage on this showy shrub emerges bright candy apple red in early spring before maturing to pineapple yellow; but the new growth continues to emerge bright orange all season. And if that wasn't enough color, clusters of dark purple flowers bloom in late spring to early summer.

A Spiraea japonica variety, commonly called spirea, Japanese spirea, or Japanese meadowsweet, Double Play Candy Corn has a compact, mounded habit that is perfect for in small spaces. Use it as a specimen or focal point in the garden, or mass it in a landscape as ground cover, edging, or a front-of-the-border plant.

A tough, cold hardy shrub, Double Play Candy Corn grows well in Zones 4a-8b. It has an easy-care nature when grown in a sunny to partly sunny location with moist, well-draining average to loamy soil. The shrub tolerates drought and heat, once established, and resists disease. It's typically ignored by deer and rabbits. With its naturally rounded shape, Double Play Candy Corn needs no pruning, but a nice little trim after the flowers fade will keep it looking tidy and encourage more bright and colorful new growth.

Photo courtesy of Proven Winners® ColorChoice® Shrubs