Pink Summersweet

The Pink Summersweet (Clethra alnifolia ‘Ruby Spice’) is a small-sized ornamental shrub that has exceptional wildlife value. With a compact, rounded form and densely branched growth, this shrub has a beautiful display of flowers in the summer. In late summer, fragrant bright pink flowers bloom from bottom to top in narrow, upright panicles when very few other shrubs are in bloom and stay on for 4-6 weeks. These flowers are very attractive to bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. In the fall, the serrated oval and glossy leaves turn from a dark green into a yellow-gold (though its fall color may vary from year to year).

The Summersweet is native to eastern North America, with its range stretching from Maine down to Florida and over to Texas. It is often found growing in the wild in moist and loamy conditions such as swamps, damp thickets, and sandy woods. The Pink Summersweet cultivar ‘Ruby Spice’ was discovered as a sport of ‘Pink Spire’ in 1992. It differs from its parent species with its rose-pink flowers instead of white and more compact form. This shrub is captivating enough to stand on its own as a specimen or in groups to form a border or a screen. It also takes pruning well. Does best in partial to full sun (can maintain its bloom even in shade), and prefers moist and well-drained soils.