Pieris Japonica "Mountain Fire"

    I have two of these fairly slow growing shrubs in the back of my tiered bed. This is such a large bed (60 ft long x 6 ft deep). I like to have "anchors" interspersed in the bed. Something that has some height, and can even provide some winter interest. These are evergreen, and only get to 6 ft in height. So far they are staying pretty slim as well. So they are working out ideally. This variety gets its name from the new growth that appears in spring. It is a bright "fiery" red. As the new growth ages it turns to kind of a mahogany, then a bright green.The flowers that appear in spring, hang in chain  like clusters of little white ,cup shaped flowers.It supposedly prefers acidic soil, but my soil tends to be more neutral towards alkaline, and they have done very well. it gets full sun, and has never needed any kind of winter protection. It is hardy from zones 4b to zone 7b. I am in zone 6 to 6b. Take a look at how brilliant this red is.

This pic shows the beautiful white blooms. Actually this shot doesnt show the true white that they normally are as this shot was taken as the flowers had started fading somewhat.