Virginia Sweetspire

Itea virginica

native · Central Texas

Virginia Sweetspire is a shrub native to Central Texas that grows 3–10 ft tall and 6 ft wide. It wants part shade and high water, and handles clay soil. Blooms white in mid spring. Good for birds.

Wet ground only. A wetland plant: it needs standing water or saturated soil — a pond edge, creek bank or rain garden, not a dry upland bed.

Will it grow in your yard?

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The facts

4 sources

Type: Shrub
Sun: Part shade (3–5 hrs of direct sun)
Water: High
Height: 3–10 ft
Spread: 6 ft
Bloom: Mid Spring · white
Foliage: Deciduous or dies back in winter
Soil: Takes clay · recorded on clay, loam, moist, poor drainage, sand
Wildlife: Supports birds

Where it grows

Recorded in this EPA Level IV ecoregion in the Austin and Hill Country launch area:

Floodplains and Low Terraces

Can you buy it?

Also grows here — hard to find. Native and recorded growing in Central Texas, but not on the grower stock lists we read. Sourcing varies: some are stocked widely, others you will have to hunt for.

also grows from seed It starts readily from seed, so a packet from a native-seed supplier, or seed collected with permission, is often the easiest way to get a plant no nursery pots.