General Plant Information (Edit)
Plant Habit: Shrub
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Partial Shade
Water Preferences: Wet
Wet Mesic
Mesic
Soil pH Preferences: Moderately acid (5.6 – 6.0)
Slightly acid (6.1 – 6.5)
Neutral (6.6 – 7.3)
Minimum cold hardiness: Zone 4a -34.4 °C (-30 °F) to -31.7 °C (-25 °F)
Maximum recommended zone: Zone 7b
Plant Height: 4-6 feet
Plant Spread: 4-6 feet
Leaves: Good fall color
Deciduous
Flowers: Fragrant
Blooms on new wood
Flower Color: Pink
Flower Time: Summer
Other: July-August
Suitable Locations: Bog gardening
Wildlife Attractant: Bees
Resistances: Deer Resistant
Rabbit Resistant
Salt tolerant
Propagation: Other methods: Cuttings: Stem
Stolons and runners
Pollinators: Bees
Miscellaneous: Monoecious

Image
Common names
  • Summersweet
  • Sweet Pepper Bush

Photo Gallery
Location: Black Mountain, NC
Date: 06/22/2017
Location: Elberfeld, Indiana
Date: 2014-08-11
Location: Elberfeld, Indiana
Date: 2014-08-11
Location: Black Mountain, NC
Date: 06/22/2017
Location: Elberfeld, Indiana
Date: 2014-08-11
Location: Jenkins Arboretum in Berwyn, Pennsylvania
Date: 2019-11-03
plants in fall
Location: Elberfeld, Indiana
Date: 2014-08-11
Location: Downingtown, Pennsylvania
Date: 2018-07-29
maturing plant in bloom
Location: Downingtown, Pennsylvania
Date: 2018-07-29
flower spikes and leaves
Location: Downingtown Pennsylvania
Date: 2020-12-18
shrub in winter, nice habit

Photo courtesy of Joy Creek Nursery
Comments:
  • Posted by ILPARW (southeast Pennsylvania - Zone 6b) on Nov 5, 2019 12:16 PM concerning plant:
    This cultivar was selected about 1906 for its flowers being soft pink and not fading to white. The cylindric flower spikes are about 3.5 to 4 inches long; and the mother species can have the spikes 4 to 6 inches long. My old woody plant teacher, Dr. Michael Dirr, in his Manual of Landscape Plants wrote that he could not see any significant difference between the two standard pink flowering cultivars of 'Pink Spires' and 'Rosea.' He also mentioned that a newer cultivar of 'Hokie Pink' was extremely similar to both. The newer cultivar of 'Ruby Spice' shows its rich rose color throughout the petals and holds it a little longer. There really is not much difference between these cultivars. Most conventional nurseries carry one of these pink cultivars along with the straight species and a dwarf form.

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