Sweet Shrubs for Wet Sites
Sweet pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia), and Virginia sweetspire (Itea virginica) are two native ornamental shrubs that thrive in wet soils. For several weeks in summer, sweet pepperbush bears spicy-sweet flowers on 2- to 6-inch stalks (resembling bottlebrushes). Hardy throughout North Carolina, the upright, oval shrub grows 4 to 8 feet tall and 4 to 6 feet wide. It can tolerate salt spray. ‘Ruby Spice’ and ‘Pink Spires’ are cultivated varieties with pink blossoms. The compact ‘Hummingbird’ grows 3 feet tall and wide. Fall foliage is yellow. Grow sweet pepperbush in sun to partial shade in moist to wet soil. Virginia sweetspire, an arching shrub of 3 to 5 feet, bears drooping racemes of lightly fragrant, white flowers in early spring. The variety ‘Henry’s Garnet’ has longer, more arching, 6-inch flower stalks. ‘Little Henry’ remains a compact 2 to 3 feet. Sweetspire has outstanding fall foliage in vivid shades from reddish-orange to scarlet to reddish-purple, depending on variety. It adapts to a range of conditions—from sun to partial shade in dry to wet soils.