Scentlandia Sweetspire has fragrant white flowers
Scentlandia Sweetspire attracts pollinators to your landscape
Scentlandia Sweetspire has long spikes of white summer flowers
Proven Winners ColorChoice Shrubs logo
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Scentlandia Sweetspire has fragrant white flowers
Scentlandia Sweetspire attracts pollinators to your landscape
Scentlandia Sweetspire has long spikes of white summer flowers
Proven Winners ColorChoice Shrubs logo
All media depicts mature plants.

Scentlandia® Sweetspire (Itea)

Shrub

  • Fragrant white flowers in attract pollinators to your landscape.
  • Glorious, glowing fall color!
  • Grows in shade and wet soil.
  • Very heat tolerant native shrub.
  • Zones 5-9, sun/part sun/shade, 3' tall x 3' wide at maturity.
  • ZONE
  • EXPOSURE
  • HEIGHT

More info on plant sizes

Size: One Quart
$33.00
Sale: $33.00 Each
Total: $33.00
Shipping calculated at checkout.
Hand-Picked at Our Greenhouse
Shipped to Your Door
Arrives as a Young Plant
60 Day Risk-Free Guarantee
Hand-Picked at Our Greenhouse
Shipped to Your Door
Arrives as a Young Plant
60 Day Risk-Free Guarantee
Hand-Picked at Our Greenhouse
Shipped to Your Door
Arrives as a Young Plant
60 Day Risk-Free Guarantee
Hand-Picked at Our Greenhouse
Shipped to Your Door
Arrives as a Young Plant
60 Day Risk-Free Guarantee
Hand-Picked at Our Greenhouse
Shipped to Your Door
Arrives as a Young Plant
60 Day Risk-Free Guarantee
Hand-Picked at Our Greenhouse
Shipped to Your Door
Arrives as a Young Plant
60 Day Risk-Free Guarantee

Description

Scentlandia sweetspire (Itea virginica) is an innovative new selection from Proven Winners. They developed it as an improved version of Little Henry.  Scentlandia has much better cold tolerance, making it a superior choice for USDA zone 5 and 6. It also offers improved fragrance from its beautiful, long spikes of white summer flowers; try planting it near a window or patio to enjoy its sweet summer scent. Come fall, you'll see brighter, more consistent color that will add vibrancy to your landscape. Even in the shade! Sweetspire is such a handsome, versatile native shrub. Its compact size makes it perfect for any sized landscape, and when you add its deer resistance into the mix, you've got an easy-care shrub that has it all.

Details

Botanical name: Itea virginica 'SMNIVDFC'
Patent #: USPP 30,233
Common name: Sweetspire, Virginia sweetspire, Itea
Zone: 5-9
Sun exposure: Full sun (6+ hours sun) to part-sun (4-6 hours sun). Can take full shade, but flowering and fall color will be diminished.
Height x width: 2-3' tall and wide
Flower color: White
Foliage color: Green
Season of Interest: Early summer to autumn
Bloom time: Early summer
Features: Proven Winners, native, fragrant, fall color, drought tolerant, deer resistant, container plants, best for beginners
Uses: Hedge, native plant gardens, wildlife gardens, ground cover

How to Grow

Soil: Moist but well-drained soils are best. Established sweetspire can take some dryness.
Light: Full sun (6+ hrs/day) to part-sun (4-6 hrs/day). Can grow in full shade, but flowering will be diminished, and fall color will not be as vivid.
Water: Average.
Space: Plant at least 3' apart.
Fertilizing: Little needed. If desired, fertilize in early spring, once the ground has thawed, with a granular rose fertilizer. A second application may be made in late spring/early summer as well.
Winterizing: Nothing special required, aside from a good 2-3" layer of mulch. Mulch is especially important in zones 5 and 6.
Maintenance & Pruning: Blooms on old wood, so should only be pruned after bloom. Dead wood can be removed in spring, once new growth has begun to emerge and it's clear where any dieback may have occurred.

6 Fragrant Flowers for Spring

Lots of the most beloved fragrant plants bloom in spring and early summer; they’re the perfect way to welcome back the growing season and the return of spending time outdoors. We’re sharing some of our all-time favorite fragrant plants in spring here. Plant them and create your own fragrant memories this season!

Get inspired

Plant spacing is based on the ultimate width of the plants. This figure is normally given as a range; for example, 3-5’. If you live in a cold climate and/or want plants to fill in more quickly, plan to space at the shorter end of the range. If you live in a warm climate, are on a limited budget, or are willing to wait longer for plants to touch, use the higher end of the range. Using the larger number is recommended when calculating distance from a building or structure. There’s really no such thing as "maximum spacing": if you don’t want your plants to touch, you can space them as far apart as you’d like. All plant spacing is calculated on center, or in other words, the centers of the plants are spaced one half of their eventual width apart:

bush distance

Unless you are planting in a straight line, as you might for hedges or edging, space your plants in a staggered or zig-zag pattern for a more interesting and naturalistic look:

bush distance zigzag

Not sure just how many plants will fit in your garden? Our calculator gives you the exact amount of plants required for your space. Simply update the values and the calculator will re-calculate accordingly. Spacing information can be found in the 'How to Grow' tab on each plant's page.

Plant Spacing Calculator

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  • 5 stars: 7 (70%)
  • 4 stars: 1 (10%)
  • 3 stars: 1 (10%)
  • 2 stars: 1 (10%)
  • 1 star: 0 (0%)
A
A.W.

Arrived healthy...hopefully they grow quickly

M
M.T. (Texas)

I guess I didnt pay attention to the size I was buying and was surprised to see how small the plants were. But they are doing well in their garden spot and have at least doubled in size and each sprouting several Blooms! I am very pleased!

C
C. (Texas)
Not Deer Resistant

The deer in my area enjoyed the scented salad. There are 2 inch stems and nothing else. If deer resistance isn't important than disregard the 3 stars.

We're sorry that the deer enjoyed your plants before you could. Young plants are especially susceptible to deer damage, so we highly recommend protecting new plants in areas with high deer traffic. All orders are covered by our 60-day guarantee, so please send your order number and pictures of your plants to [email protected] to start the claims process. We look forward to helping!

N
N.S. (New Jersey)
Fighting the Weather

Plant is trying to survive the heavy winds we have had here in Ocean County…weak stems do little to help…

Hello! We're sorry you're having trouble with your plants. Rest assured we have a 60-day gaurentee on all of our plants. Please contact our customer service team and send photos of the plants to [email protected], where we can further assist you and your plants. Thank you for your feedback, happy gardening! https://bit.ly/ggp-guarantee

C
C.M.M. (Virginia)
1st purchase

I am very pleased with my 1st purchase of plants. They were carefully packed when they arrived and are thriving in my yard. I will definitely buy plants from Great Garden Plants again!

S
S.M. (California)
Lovely plant!

It’s only been planted for a couple of weeks but this plant has grown quite a bit already. It is healthy and beautiful. I’m looking forward to seeing/smelling what it’s like when blooming.

M
M.S. (Texas)
It’s not dead yet

Texas heat, up to 115 degrees last month, and no rain for 60+ days hasn’t killed it. I cut back the one and only vine when planted and so far, it has retained all of its green leaves. No new growth has occurred. Fall and cooler temperatures will happen in a couple of months. I’m keeping it watered and hope to see it thrive.

S
S.A. (Georgia)
Looks promising

Seems to be growing nicely but no blooms yet. Looking forward to the blooms

Hello! Thank you for leaving feedback. When transplanting young plants from a nursery pot to a garden, the plant allocates more energy to root development instead of shoot development (above ground). It's important for them to develop a robust root system so they can actually absorb the nutrients and water in the soil around them. Then after their root system is more developed they'll invest in their shoots and flower development. They generally spend their first year growing roots in their new home, the second year they have more energy to put into growth, and the third year, they are growing and flowering vigorously. This applies to plants in the garden center as well as plants you purchase online. We hope this helps. Happy Gardening!

M
M.C. (West Virginia)
Mixed feelings.

Came small as a few bare stems. It did grow fairly quickly and had flowers within a few weeks. And then the deer trimmed it back to about the way I received it so . . .it's starting all over again. Don't let the label of deer resistant keep you from protecting your plants in other ways like spray, etc.

L
L.F. (New Hampshire)
Sweetspire

So far, so good...the Sweetspire is thriving and putting out new growth.

L
L.G.

I live in 7 zone. Is it too early to plant scentlandia sweetspire?

Great Garden Plants

Spring is the best time to plant sweetspire. It may be too cold to plant now. The rule of thumb when planting in the spring is to make sure the threat of frost is gone in your area. If you are not sure when that date is, you can check with your local nursery. It is always good to put a layer of mulch after planting, it keeps the ground warmer if you get a late frost, while also keeping the weeds at bay.

N
N.M.

Is this plant deer resistant? (Fizzy Mizzy is listed as deer resistant and wondering if this is too).

Great Garden Plants

This plant is listed as deer resistant. For our deer resistant plant collection please click on this link below.
https://www.greatgardenplants.com/collections/deer-resistant

K
K.D.

What does Scentlandia smell like? It only says it is fragrant, but not what *kind* of scent it is.

Great Garden Plants

Hello! Scentlandia has a sweet, floral scent.

L
L.S.

Is the Scentlandia Sweetspire likely to reach at least 3 feet tall (Grand Rapids, MI) planted in part shade? Need a part- shade plant for a hedge that can tolerate occasional wet feet (most often in spring) and drought (clay soil). Any suggestions would be appreciated. Also, can I pick up plants from the nursery? (We are often out of town and don’t want a delivered to set out in hot, dry weather for days)?

Great Garden Plants

Yes, this sweetspire will grow in part shade so it might be a good plant for the area you want to put it.

While our greenhouses aren't open to the public, we do offer a pick up option for residents on the West Michigan area on Fridays during the season.

T
T.L.

Is this deer resistant? For some reason I thought I read it was, however, my newly arrived and now planted plants have been chomped on.

Great Garden Plants

Yes, sweetspire is deer resistant. That does not equal deer proof. If you have a lot of deer in your area or there aren't other plants they prefer, they could still chew on deer resistant plants. You could try a deer repellent spray to help discourage them.