Flowers are a vital element in any garden – they add zest and color at key times of the year. We often talk about the use of colored foliage too, and how it gives you long-term color, while flowers last just a few weeks. But flowers don’t have to be short-lived, and with the Double Play Doozie® Spirea they aren’t. Flowering continuously from May to October, this gorgeous small shrub brings tons of red-purple color to your beds with almost no effort. If you have grown old types of Japanese spirea before, you will be amazed by how much better this plant is. Not only are the flower heads so much larger, and carried in profusion all over the plant, but it has a secret. This allows it to remain in bloom from May, when the first flowers open, all the way through to October, when the leaves are changing color.

That secret lies in the unique genetic makeup of this bush, which makes it sterile, and unable to create seeds. This means it is totally non-invasive in those parts of the country where that is a problem, but it also means that the flower heads just shrivel to nothing when blooming is over. This ‘tricks’ the plant into flowering again, so it simply never stops, and continuous blooming is guaranteed.

Growing the Double Play Doozie® Spirea

Size and Appearance

The Double Play Doozie Spirea is a compact deciduous shrub growing between 2 and 3 feet tall and wide. It has dense branching, with many fine stems covered in small leaves. It forms a dense mound, with branches right to the ground, covering the earth well. The leaves are small, just 1 inch long, and oval, with a tapering, pointed tip and softly-serrated edges. In spring, as the new leaves emerge, they are a bright rich red, slowly turning first orange-red, then yellow, and finally becoming a rich dark green. They hold this color all summer, and then in fall they turn shades of yellow, gold and purple-red, making a colorful splash to end the season.

The foliage is certainly attractive, but it is the impressive flowering we are here for, and it is simply amazing. Each branch ends in a very large head of blooms, between 6 and 8 inches across, with as many as 200 small flowers filling it like jewels. The flowers may individually be small, but they pack a color punch, with rich purple-red petals making this bush really stand out. As each flower head fades, it simply shrivels to nothing, and new heads grow from the stem all around it. Continuous flowering from May to October is a certainty.

Using the Double Play Doozie® Spirea in Your Garden

With all that color on offer, this plant is a top pick for any shrub bed. Plant it alone in smaller beds, or in groups, spacing them 2 feet apart. Arrange them in drifts through your beds, or as a beautiful edging at a lawn, or by a path or driveway. Those big flower heads just keep on coming. This is a gorgeous way to cover a bank or area of sloping ground, to fill the levels of terracing, or top a retaining wall. Plant it on either side of a door or entrance for a warm welcome. This plant is casual enough for wilder areas too, and its toughness and reliability make it a natural anywhere in the garden. You can also use it to fill planter boxes with all-season color – nothing extra is needed.

Hardiness

The Double Play Doozie Spirea is amazingly cold resistant, and even in zone 3 it grows perfectly. It is also tough in the summer heat and grows everywhere except for zone 9 – right across the country.

Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions

Plant this shrub in full sun, or with a few hours of shade each day. It will grow, but not flower as well, the more shade it receives. Soil is never an issue – it just needs to be well-drained. Urban soils and poor soils are fine, although of course, the growth will be more vigorous and lush in better soils, so add some organic material when planting to get it off to a flying start.

Maintenance and Pruning

This is a tough and reliable plant that is perfect for low-maintenance gardening. Once established it is resistant to ordinary summer drought, and it is not bothered by any pests or diseases. Deer normally ignore it. Since the flowers are sterile no dead-heading is needed, and the only care is a spring trim, before the new leaves appear. This can simply be done with shears, cutting back about one-third of the plant and shaping it into a dome. You can also go a little further with older plants and remove weak, twiggy stems to encourage as many vigorous new stems as possible.

History and Origin of the Double Play Doozie® Spirea

The Japanese Spirea, Spiraea japonica, grows naturally in northern parts of Japan and China, where it has been grown in gardens for centuries. In some parts of the country this plant has become invasive, with seed spreading into natural areas and competing with our native plants. To solve this problem, Professor Thomas Ranney, at North Carolina State University, and the head breeder at the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research and Extension Center in Mills River, N.C., developed a plan. Using complex breeding techniques, he was able to create forms of this plant with unique genetics, which cannot make seed, even if pollinated. After numerous crosses, by 2012 he had found a seedling with outstanding flowers that bloomed continuously. After 5 more years of careful testing the University patented it in 2019 as ‘NCSX2’. They have licensed its sale by Spring Meadow Nursery, Inc., of Grand Haven, Michigan as Doozie®, one of their Double Play® range of new spirea bushes.

Buying the Double Play Doozie® Spirea at The Tree Center

If all you have grown are the old types of Japanese spirea, you are in for a real treat with this new one. Huge flower heads that never stop coming guarantee success, but act soon, because stock of quality plants like this one never lasts long.