Spiraea tomentosa - Steeplebush

Steeplebush
Spiraea tomentosa

🦋Pollinator Powerhouse🦋

WNC NATIVE. RARE. 4-8” spikes of beautiful, butterfly-attracting pink-purple flowers in late summer to fall on these easy to grow shrubs. Members of the rose family, their pleasing green foliage in summer turns bright gold and auburn in fall. Gorgeous massed, or as a low hedge. They love moist, acidic soil and in the wild are found in wet meadows, marshes, along stream banks, and other moist and sunny areas.  

While once prolific in NC, Natureserve now classifies these awesome little shrubs as "Vulnerable" here. They are a wonderful, native, pollinator-supporting-powerhouse alternative to Japanese Spiraea.

Ideal for butterfly gardens, cottage gardens, native gardens, pollinator gardens, rain gardens, and more.

🦋Pollinator Powerhouse! These are the host plants to several extremely showy and charismatic moth species, including Columbia Silkmoth (Hyalophora columbia) and the Buck Moth (Hemileuca maia). They are also a host plant for the dramatic Mourning Cloak butterfly (Nymphalis antiopa). All total, these are the host plants for at least 70 different butterfly and moth species in NC! Wow!

🐝Native bees: the Xerxes Society says that these plants are of special importance to our native bees, including the cute and recently widespread but now rarely seen Yellow Banded Bumblebee (Bombus terricola). 

🐦Birds! According to the Audobon Society, Spiraea tomentosa can help attract and feed Cardinals, Chickadees, Jays, Finches, Mockingbirds, Nuthatches, Blackbirds, Thrushes, Vireos, Waxwings, Wood Warblers, Wrens, and more.

🦌Deer - Not particularly tasty to deer, they can handle whatever the deer can dish out, especially once they are established. Rabbits also avoid them.

✂️Flowers can be pruned immediately after blooming to encourage additional blooming. These plants flower on new wood so if you do decide to prune them for shaping, late winter is best.

Full sun.

2-4’T x W. If they are deliriously happy about their conditions, they may spread.

Zones 3-8, cold hardy down to -40F.

💚Plant Nerd: These plants have astringent qualities, which Native Americans have historically used to treat a variety of ailments.

🐝Yellow Banded Bumblebees? - Not too long ago, these fuzzy little insects were widespread across their large range in North America. They are now officially classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN and are now rarely seen. In NC, there have been a handful of sightings of them in recent years on iNaturalist (as recently as 2023) in Pisgah National Forest. Bumblebees are important pollinators for both wild plants and in agriculture. Planting Spiraea tomentosa plants are an excellent way to help these cute little garden workhorses. They can pollinate over 20 flowers a minute! 

According to Nature Serve, these plants themselves are now considered to be Vulnerable in NC. Once far more plentiful, they have been repeatedly removed for development. Planting these in moist, sunny areas of your landscape can help conserve these wonderful plants - and all the other life that depends on them!