Itea virginica ‘Shirley's Compact’ Bob McCartney arching frame that takes a

arching frame that takes a light pruning in late winter to stay compact and fruit heavily

dramatic subtropical

dark green leaves are coarsely toothed and dusted with scattered yellow flecks

rounded mophead clusters of sterile florets open pale and cream

and anyone lucky enough to be passing

Itea virginica ‘Shirley's Compact’ Bob McCartney arching frame that takes aItea virginica, the Virginia sweetspire, is a native shrub of eastern wetlands, familiar in gardens for fragrant white flower spikes and fiery fall color. 'Shirley's Compact,' sometimes called Shirley's Midget, takes the species to an extreme: a true miniature, a dense little bun of a plant with tiny, twisted, inch long leaves, growing so slowly that a ten year old clump may stand only a foot or a foot and a half tall while spreading two or three feet