Characteristics and description of spirea variety Anthony Waterer, planting and care

The spirea bush is replete with a variety of varieties, the most popular of which is Anthony Waterer. The compact bush has long become a favorite of landscape designers due to its bright colors, which is why it is often found in summer cottages or park areas. Another positive quality of the plant is its unpretentiousness, which is why when choosing colored bushes for the garden, summer residents choose spirea.

Description and characteristics of the plant

Spiraea Anthony Waterer or Anthony Waterer is a hybrid of white-flowered and Japanese spirea. The plant is very compact, the crowns do not reach more than 80 centimeters. The shrub grows slowly and rarely gains more than 5 centimeters per year. The shape of the bush is spherical, with straight branches.

The leaves are pointed and jagged. When they bloom, they have a scarlet tint, then they become dark green, and in the fall, before falling, they turn red. Spiraea flowers are small, bright pink, with a lilac tint. Collected in lush inflorescences covering the plant, with a diameter of about 15 centimeters. Flowering period is 100 days, from June to September.

Important! Regular pruning of fading inflorescences extends the flowering period..

Advantages and disadvantages of spirea Anthony Waterer

The Anthony Waterer bush has a number of undeniable advantages:

• long flowering;
• unpretentiousness;
• compactness;
• frost resistance;
• disease resistance with proper care;
• low cost of seedlings;
• suitable for single and group plantings;
• beautiful appearance and pleasant smell.

Despite the positive aspects, spirea still has several disadvantages that should be described:

• during drought, additional watering is necessary, otherwise the plant will dry out;
• With improper care, there is a high probability of infection of the bush with a fungus and pest invasion.

Features of growing the variety

In order for the bush to grow healthy and resistant to diseases, planting rules must be followed.

Time and place

The recommended time for planting shrubs is in September, when the sun is not so scorching. Spiraea is a light-loving plant, so the most advantageous place is unshaded, which is illuminated all day long.The soil should be turf or leaf, without groundwater and characterized by the greatest fertility. You should definitely add peat and sand to the soil before planting.

Important! The more fertile the soil, the more luxuriantly and abundantly the spirea will bloom.

Preparation of planting material

To plant spirea, you should choose a cloudy or rainy day in September. Suitable material for planting or transplanting is strong, healthy shoots or well-rooted seedlings. When digging out of the soil, the root system should be preserved as much as possible without damaging it. Sick, dry and weak shoots need to be cut off. Trimmed strong seedlings should be soaked in succinic acid for half an hour before planting.

If a seedling is bought in a store, you need to make sure that there is no external damage to both the root system and the shaft itself.

Planting scheme and process

Before planting the plant, the soil must be dug up and fertilized with sand and peat or humus, and then begin digging planting holes. Their depth should be about 50 centimeters, and their width should be half the size of the root system. The distance between planting holes is at least half a meter. The bottom of the holes should be drained, especially if groundwater flows in the ground. Expanded clay or small pebbles are suitable for this.

The roots of the seedling should be distributed over the hole so that they feel free, and the bark neck is at ground level or slightly higher. Afterwards, the future bush is sprinkled with soil fertilized with sand and peat, and then compacted well. When everything is ready, the seedling should be watered with a bucket of water and mulched with peat.

Care instructions

In order for a flowering plant to delight its owners, it is necessary to follow simple rules of care.

Watering and fertilizing

As already mentioned, spirea does not like severe drought, so in especially hot summers the plant should be watered twice a month, and bushes under 3 years old - once a week. Watering is also necessary in the first year of the bush’s life. A bucket of water is enough. Before this, the soil must be dug up so that the liquid does not stagnate, and after watering, it must be mulched with sawdust or peat to avoid drying out.

In addition, do not forget about feeding. Potassium, phosphate, nitrogen or mixed fertilizers should be applied twice a year. The first time in the spring - before the formation of buds, the second time - in June, before flowering.

Loosening the soil and pruning

Loosening of the soil is carried out in spring, autumn, during watering and before mulching. This will saturate the soil with oxygen, prevent liquid from stagnating, prevent the appearance of fungus and reduce the risk of parasites.

Pruning is another important point when caring for spirea. Regular trimming of the bush will enhance the growth of the plant, increase the number of inflorescences and protect against premature wilting. Pruning is carried out in the spring - before the buds appear, or in the fall - when the bush fades:

• dry and painful branches are cut off completely, and old ones are shortened;
• the older the bush, the more abundant the pruning - a plant older than 5 years is shortened to 50 centimeters, and one older than 6 is cut off completely to the stump. Trimming of old plants is carried out only in autumn;
• In spirea older than 3 years, the lower shoots and old branches are cut off.

The resulting cuttings should be burned.

Winter care

Spiraea is frost-resistant, but young bushes need additional heating.Before the onset of cold weather, seedlings and young bushes are covered with spruce branches or leaves, and after precipitation they should be dusted with snow.

Diseases and pests

An infection that can attack spirea is fungus or root rot. To avoid this, you should avoid stagnation of water and regularly dig up and mulch the soil. Regarding parasites, the most dangerous for shrubs are:

• aphids (peak infection is the summer months, untimely treatment is fatal to the plant);
• spider mite (no less dangerous than aphids, and also leads to the death of a flowering bush; calmly survives cold weather in the leaves);
• leaf rollers;
• miners.

To avoid pest invasion, you should carefully monitor every change in leaves, stems and flowers, and also regularly trim the plant, loosen and mulch the soil.

Bush propagation

How to propagate spirea yourself:

• branches: this division is carried out in the spring, choosing young and strong shoots. The branches should be carefully bent to the soil until they touch, and fixed, and then covered with earth along the entire length. Water the shoots 2 times a month. For the winter, cover with leaves or peat. In the new spring, the young bush can be separated from the mother one and transplanted to a new place;
• cuttings: this method is carried out in June, when the young branches have finally formed into a full-fledged branch. To do this, they are cut and divided into small shoots, about 10 centimeters long. After this, the cuttings should be dipped in a solution that stimulates growth for 12 hours, then planted in soil fertilized with peat and sand, watering every two days.

It will not be possible to increase the number of Anthony Waterer plants on the site with seeds, since this species is a hybrid, and the grains will produce one of the parents of this variety.

Landscape design

Most often, spirea is used in landscape design, as a hedge, or planted along alleys. The bush goes well with conifers and other trees, which allows designers or simply creative people to create a real plant picture.