Pieris japonica 'Katsura' Japanese Andromeda

You might believe that Pieris, while a solid landscape plant, has little in the way of spectacular to offer. 'Katsura' may just change your mind with great bloom plus great foliage color that makes it elbow its way to the front of the Pieris pack. This broadleaf evergreen is a heavy spring bloomer with long, stem topping pendulous strings of small, bell shaped, dusty rose colored flowers that open starting in late April and continue well into May. It is an impressive display that will get your attention but not like the show that is coming once the bloom fades. As the bloom goes by, new foliage flushes with a unique and outrageous deep wine-red color that lasts well into early summer before gradually fading to a deep, lustrous green. The color is even more spectacular because it is so unexpected and adds a whole other demension to this genus of popular, utilitarian plants. 'Katsura' boasts a tight, rounded form making it easy to grow in any partial sun location that is protected from prevailing winter winds. Deer resistant.