* Botanical name: Clethra alnifolia 'Compacta' * What it is: Also known as 'Tom's Compact' summersweet, this plant is a compact variety of a Pennsylvania native flowering shrub. It produces upright, ...

Clethra alnifolia 'Ruby Spice' is a deciduous, summer-flowering shrub native to Eastern North America, where it grows in damp shade along streams. Its flowers are usually white, but the cultivar 'Ruby ...

The Garden Guy has known of the summersweet or Clethra alnifolia for over 20 years when the variety Hummingbird was selected as a Georgia Gold Medal Winner in 1996. If I may pose the question however, ...

This shrub is excellent for late summer blooms, and works well as either a stand-alone shrub or a hedge. It tolerates shade and clay soils, but prefers sandy soils that are kept consistently moist.