The Little Princess Spirea, otherwise known as the Spiraea Japonica ‘Little Princess’ or Lamb’s Ears, Donkey’s Ears, Jesus Flannel, is a rather well known perennial plant by gardening enthusiasts around the world.
Best known for its low maintenance and moderate growth, this perennial will likely liven up your house (or garden) with its green colored leaves. But, only if you learn how to take proper care of it for it to thrive.
This is why all the topics you need to know in order to achieve this will be covered in this Little Princess Spirea Care Guide. Ready? Let’s go!
The basic care guidelines you need to remember for your Little Princess Spirea are the following:
- Water: The Little Princess Spirea prefers constant watering each week and more during the hot season.
- Light: Keep your Spiraea Japonica ‘Little Princess’ in an environment where it can receive full sun on a daily basis.
- Soil: Make sure to keep the Little Princess Spirea in soil with well-draining properties, so ideally, one that is made of sand, chalk, and loam.
That’s it – sunlight, water and soil! The basic 3 fundamentals for all plant care, and with the Little Princess Spirea this is no exception. With these three elements, your leafy friend will live healthy and happy.
Scientific / Botanical Aspects
In botanical terms, the Little Princess Spirea belongs to the Lamiaceae family, the genus Stachys and the species Byzantina, hence its scientific (or botanical) name Spiraea Japonica ‘Little Princess’ (spy-REE-a juh-PON-ih-kuh).
As with other Stachys’s, the Little Princess Spirea is a deciduous plant, which means it will shed its leaves annually once autumn comes.
Growing Region
The Little Princess Spirea is a plant native to the Krym and Northern Turkey to Northern Iran.
Knowing your plant’s native region is very useful, as it can give you tips on which environment is best for your Little Princess Spirea. If you keep it in mind, you can try to replicate these conditions at home, and you’ll likely end with a healthier plant.
With this in mind, the Spiraea Japonica ‘Little Princess’ will be most used to the heat zones in the 1 – 8 region, as the plant hardiness level falls between 4a, 4b, 5b, 5a, 6b, 6a, 7b, 7a, 8a, 8b, 9b, 9a and the ideal climate zone is between 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24.
Growth and Size
Growth
In terms of size and growth, the Little Princess Spirea is a relatively moderate grower, which makes things somewhat easy for any plant enthusiast.
Size
But what exactly does this mean for your Little Princess Spirea? How large a pot should you consider, how tall, how wide can it get? Let’s jump in…
The Spiraea Japonica ‘Little Princess’ can grow up to 6″ – 2′ (15cm – 60cm) in 6″ – 2′ (15cm – 60cm) and 1′ – 3′ (30cm – 90cm) in 1′ – 3′ (30cm – 90cm).
These dimensions make the Little Princess Spirea a relatively medium perennial compared to others, so it’s best to keep this fact in mind since it will affect where you want to keep yours at home.
Also, expect it to grow in a wonderful compact, and rounded shape, which is something worthwhile to remember when making your garden landscape plans.
This is why experts recommend keeping an area of approximately 18″ – 24″ (45cm – 60cm) free so the Little Princess Spirea can spread to its best extent.
Water
In terms of watering, the Little Princess Spirea is a fairly simple plant to take care of.
This is mostly because it has a straightforward watering schedule and somewhat regular watering needs.
Specifically, most experts agree that the Spiraea Japonica ‘Little Princess’ prefers constant watering each week and more during the hot season.
Which is why it is considered a plant with relatively low needs in terms of water.
Watering
As a rule of thumb, you should remember to keep your Little Princess Spirea in soil with well-draining characteristics, as these will guarantee the right conditions for your plant to grow and thrive.
When you consider this, this is why you should aim to choose soil that has good drainage, and occasionally dry properties to keep the right moisture levels at all times.
In our experience, the famous ‘thumb’ or ‘finger’ test is what works best for the Little Princess Spirea since with it, you will be able to give it the right amount of water, every time – regardless of the environment or placement where you do decide to keep it.
Soil Mix
As mentioned earlier, the Little Princess Spirea prefers to have soil with good drainage, and occasionally dry properties at all times, reason why you need to make the soil mix out of sand, chalk, and loam.
This is why most experts agree that the Little Princess Spirea requires soil with clay, loam (silt), sand, and shallow rocky, which will give you the right conditions it needs.
In addition to this, expert gardeners recommend having preferably alkaline, acid or neutral soil.
Light and Exposure
In terms of light & exposure, the Little Princess Spirea requires full sun in order for it to thrive under the right conditions.
Most experts agree that this perennial will do well as long as you keep it in full sun, and it will be able to grow properly.
Specifically, we recommend that you place your Spiraea Japonica ‘Little Princess’ in little to partial shade (only 2-6 hours of direct sunlight a day), to full and direct sun (more 6 hours of direct sunlight per day).
Season
Being a deciduous plant, the Little Princess Spirea will shed its leaves annually once autumn comes.
But, you can expect it to have its ‘prime-time’ during the spring (early, mid, late), the summer (early, mid, late), the fall, and during the winter.
Flowers
You can expect your Little Princess Spirea to flower around the summer months from July to September (summer).
In particular, this perennial is well known for its flowers for cutting and showy flowers around the plant enthusiast community.
The Little Princess Spirea produces some beautiful pink, or pink and purple/lavender flowers around this time of year.
Foliage
The leaves from the Little Princess Spirea have a beautiful green color during most of the year.
In particular, they have a simple arrangement with a opposite and rosulate organization in its leaves.
You can expect the leaves from your Spiraea Japonica ‘Little Princess’ to be around (3-6 inches) in size.
Attracts, Tolerance and Resistance
The Little Princess Spirea is well known for being able to attract butterflies, so keep that in mind when choosing your plant, as you’ll likely end up finding one or another in your garden.
Additionally, it has a special tolerance for drought, rocky soil, dry soil and animals like rabbit and deer, so don’t worry if any of these come along, your Spiraea Japonica ‘Little Princess’ will be fine.
Garden
Now, let’s talk garden and how your Little Princess Spirea will look best in it.
Most Spiraea Japonica ‘Little Princess’ owners agree that this perennial will look great in most cottage and rustic gardens of all types.
Other owners consider that they complement well most gardens of coastal garden, informal and cottage, city and courtyard, gravel and rock garden, and in prairie and meadow styles.
In particular, the Little Princess Spirea’s best location within your garden is in edging, banks and slopes, patio and containers, beds and borders, ground covers, and in underplanting roses and shrubs, others use it for landscaping in a mass planting, hedge, firescaping/fire wise, erosion control, cutting garden, container, border, or a urban garden.
Companion Plants
Little Princess Spirea’s do well with some other plants beside it. One good companion plant is the Berberis, which will pair up nicely with your leafy friend.
Others consider that a nice Picea will work well too, so choose whichever you find works best for you!
Conclusion
So that’s it! These are the main plant care requirements that you need to keep in mind in order to have a healthy Little Princess Spirea in your garden or home.
