Elizabeth Waddington’s 15 Award-Winning Pieris Types With Star Quality
Elizabeth is a Permaculture Garden Designer, Sustainability Consultant and Professional Writer, working as an advocate for positive change. She graduated from the University of St. Andrews with an MA in English and Philosophy and obtained a Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design from the Permaculture Association.
Reviewed By COLIN SKELLY
Colin is a Horticulturist and Horticultural Consultant with experience in a range of practical and managerial roles across heritage, commercial and public horticulture. He holds the Royal Horticultural Society’s Master of Horticulture award and has a particular interest in horticultural ecology and naturalistic planting for habitat and climate resilience.
IN THIS GUIDE
- 1) P. japonica ‘Blush’
- 2) P. japonica ‘Bonfire’
- 3) P. japonica ‘Carnaval’
- 4) P. japonica ‘Cavatine’
- 5) P. japonica ‘Debutante’
- 6) P. japonica ‘Firecrest’
- 7) P. japonica ‘Flaming Silver’
- 8) P. ‘Forest Flame’
- 9) P. japonica ‘Mountain Fire’
- 10) P. japonica ‘Pink Delight’
- 11) P. japonica ‘Prelude’
- 12) P. japonica ‘Purity’
- 13) P. japonica ‘Sarabande’
- 14) P. japonica ‘Valley Valentine’
- 15) P. formosa var. forrestii ‘Wakehurst’
A go-to shrub for those with acidic soil, Pieris are interesting evergreen shrubs that can deliver year-round interest in a garden.
Often prized for their colourful foliage and also for their pretty springtime flowers, these shrubs come in a range of sizes.
If you have a suitable spot in your garden with moist but free-draining soil and acidic conditions, then you have a wide range of Pieris to consider.
Where there are no suitable soils or where space is limited, smaller Pieris can also be grown in pots.
Below, we’ve listed a number of highly regarded Pieris cultivars of different colours and sizes that you might like to consider growing where you live, so read on to get some suggestions to help you begin to narrow down your options.
All of the varieties below have received an Award of Garden Merit from the RHS.
1) P. japonica ‘Blush’
- HARDINESS RATING: H5
- FLOWERS: white and pink
- FLOWERING SEASON(S): spring
- FOLIAGE: green
- SIZE: 2.5-4m in height, 2.5-4m spread
This medium-sized Pieris grows around 1.5-2.5m in height and spread.
It is evergreen with glossy oval leaves, and white to pale-pink flowers tipped with deeper pink with red sepals.
The flowers emerge from deep pink buds in the late winter and spring.
2) P. japonica ‘Bonfire’
- HARDINESS RATING: H5
- FLOWERS: white and pink
- FLOWERING SEASON(S): winter / spring
- FOLIAGE: green and red
- SIZE: 0.5-1m in height, 0.5-1m spread
A small Pieris that is perfect for small gardens or containers, this option grows around 0.5-1m in height and width.
It has small leaves which are brick red when young and mature to dark green.
“Pieris ‘Bonfire’ is a fantastic choice for a container, which is ideal if your garden soil does not support acid-loving plants,” says Colin Skelly, a Horticultural Consultant.
“This cultivar has early flowers for late winter interest but its real star quality is its foliage, as its name suggests.”
Dark pink flower buds form in winter and open to produce sprays of small, white to pale-pink flowers in spring.
- HARDINESS RATING: H5
- FLOWERS: cream and pink
- FLOWERING SEASON(S): winter / spring
- FOLIAGE: green, white, pink and red
- SIZE: 1-1.5m in height, 0.5-1m spread
Growing to around 1.5m tall with a spread of just 1m, this upright shrub has small leaves that are bright vivid red in the spring with pinkish edges.
These mature to a deep, dark green with creamy fringes. The buds are also a creamy colour, providing winter interest.
These open to offer sprays of small white flowers in spring.
4) P. japonica ‘Cavatine’
- HARDINESS RATING: H5
- FLOWERS: white
- FLOWERING SEASON(S): spring / summer
- FOLIAGE: green
- SIZE: 0.1-0.5m in height, 0.5-1m spread
Another smaller Pieris that could work well for containers or the front of a border with suitably acidic soil, this option grows to less than 50cm in height, with a spread of 50cm-1m.
It has dark, delicate foliage and bears small white flowers in drooping panicles from late spring through to the early summer.
5) P. japonica ‘Debutante’
- HARDINESS RATING: H5
- FLOWERS: white
- FLOWERING SEASON(S): spring
- FOLIAGE: green
- SIZE: 0.5-1m in height, 0.5-1m spread
‘Debutante’ is another compact Pieris, with a height and spread of less than 1m even when fully grown.
This attractive dwarf shrub has little dark green leaves and bears creamy-white flowers in upright panicles in the spring.
6) P. japonica ‘Firecrest’
- HARDINESS RATING: H5
- FLOWERS: cream
- FLOWERING SEASON(S): winter / spring
- FOLIAGE: green and red
- SIZE: 1.5-2.5m in height, 1.5-2.5m spread
A somewhat larger Pieris that will typically grow to between 1.5-2.5m in height and spread, this option has a bushy form.
The leaves are bright red when young, and mature to a deep, dark green.
The flowers produced in late winter and spring are creamy-white in hue, hanging in large, branched sprays which make an impressive impact.
7) P. japonica ‘Flaming Silver’
- HARDINESS RATING: H5
- FLOWERS: white
- FLOWERING SEASON(S): spring
- FOLIAGE: green, white and red
- SIZE: 1-1.5m in height, 0.5-1m spread
This shrub typically grows taller than it does wide, reaching around 1-1.5m in height, and growing to around 1m or so wide.
The foliage is bright red, maturing to green, and each leaf has a bold margin of silvery white.
In spring, the shrub also produces branched clusters of pretty, creamy-white bell-shaped flowers.
8) P. ‘Forest Flame’
- HARDINESS RATING: H5
- FLOWERS: cream
- FLOWERING SEASON(S): spring
- FOLIAGE: cream, pink, green and red
- SIZE: 2.5-4m in height, 1.5-2.5m spread
A larger, impressive and dramatic Pieris, this option can grow 2.5-4m tall and 1.5-2.5m wide.
The foliage starts out bright red when young, fading to pink and cream, before finally turning green once mature.
In spring, the plant also produces large branched groups of creamy bell-shaped flowers.
9) P. japonica ‘Mountain Fire’
- HARDINESS RATING: H5
- FLOWERS: white
- FLOWERING SEASON(S): spring
- FOLIAGE: green and red
- SIZE: 2.5-4m in height, 2.5-4m spread
Another large Pieris, growing 2.5-4m in height and spread, this evergreen has leaves that start out red, turn a coppery hue, and finally turn a deep green.
The flowers, which appear in the middle of spring, are borne in branched panicles and are of a creamy-white hue.
10) P. japonica ‘Pink Delight’
- HARDINESS RATING: H5
- FLOWERS: white and pink
- FLOWERING SEASON(S): spring
- FOLIAGE: bronze and green
- SIZE: 2.5-4m in height, 2.5-4m spread
Growing around 1-1.5m tall and wide, this Pieris has foliage that is bronze when young, soon maturing to a deep, dark green.
The flowers, which emerge in spring, are pink, fading to white, and are borne in long, drooping panicles.
11) P. japonica ‘Prelude’
- HARDINESS RATING: H5
- FLOWERS: white
- FLOWERING SEASON(S): spring
- FOLIAGE: pink and green
- SIZE: 0.5-1m in height, 0.5-1m spread
Another more compact Pieris for small gardens or containers, this option has foliage that is pink when young, which matures to a deep green.
In late spring, erect panicles of little creamy-white flowers emerge.
12) P. japonica ‘Purity’
- HARDINESS RATING: H5
- FLOWERS: white
- FLOWERING SEASON(S): spring
- FOLIAGE: green
- SIZE: 1-1.5m in height, 1-1.5m spread
This is another relatively small Pieris that can work well in containers as well as in the ground in suitably acidic soil.
It grows around 1-1.5m in height and spread.
The foliage starts out light green, fading to dark green in summer, and the flowers are quite large, pure white and borne freely on young plants in erect panicles.
13) P. japonica ‘Sarabande’
- HARDINESS RATING: H5
- FLOWERS: white
- FLOWERING SEASON(S): spring
- FOLIAGE: green and bronze
- SIZE: 1.5-2.5m in height, 1.5-2.5m spread
Growing around 1.5 to 2.5m tall and wide, this Pieris has small leaves that are tinged bronze when young and mature to a lush, dark green.
The white, urn-shaped flowers are borne in panicles in the late spring.
14) P. japonica ‘Valley Valentine’
- HARDINESS RATING: H5
- FLOWERS: red
- FLOWERING SEASON(S): spring
- FOLIAGE: green
- SIZE: 1.5-2.5m in height, 1.5-2.5m spread
This Pieris also grows to around 1.5-2.5m in height and spread.
It has glossy, dark green foliage and offers truly stunning and unique deep pinkish-red flowers which bloom in large, trailing panicles in spring.
15) P. formosa var. forrestii ‘Wakehurst’
- HARDINESS RATING: H5
- FLOWERS: cream
- FLOWERING SEASON(S): spring
- FOLIAGE: red, cream and green
- SIZE: 2.5-4m in height, 1.5-2.5m spread
A large and impressive Pieris that can grow up to 4m in height and spread to 1.5-2.5m, this option has leaves which emerge bright red in spring, turning creamy in colour and then finally turning a deep green.
In spring, the creamy-white, urn-shaped flowers are also impressive and are borne in large hanging sprays.
Of course, these are by no means the only Pieris that you might grow, but the highly regarded options listed above could be a good place to begin if you are looking to choose one for your garden.
