Melinda Myers

Japanese Pieris

Botanical Name

Pieris japonica

Min Zone

4

Max Zone

7

Height

9 to 12 feet

Width

6 to 8 feet

Flowers

Spring: white or pink, urn-shaped borne on 3 to 6 inch drooping panicles

Light

Full sun to part shade

Soil

Moist, well-drained, acidic, fertile

Planting & Care

• Transplant as a container-grown specimen
• Requires a well-drained soil for survival
• When growing in the South, provide some afternoon shade
• Remove spent flowers right after done blooming
• Shelter from wind

Problems

Leaf spots, die back, lace bug, Florida wax scale, two-spotted mite, nematodes

Varieties

• Aurea - semi-glossy yellow foliage, carmine-pink flowers
• Blush - rose-pink flowers, 5 feet
• Boltman's Pink - attractive bright red flower buds open up to blush-pink flowers
• Bonsai - small reddish leaves, 12 inches
• Captain Blood - deep red flower buds open to white flowers
• Flamingo - purple-red flower buds open to rose-red flowers that hold their color, new growth is bronze-red
• Valley Fire - new growth is red, white flowers
• Mountain Fire - firey red new growth, white flowers