Spiraea betulifolia (White Spi)

Birchleaf Spirea (Spiraea betulifolia) is a Pacific Northwest native shrub of open pine forests, rocky slopes, and montane meadows from British Columbia and Alberta south through Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana into Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah. In Oregon it is native primarily east of the Cascades and through the northern Rockies fringe. A drier, rockier counterpart to the better-known west-side native Spiraea douglasii.

In late spring and early summer, flat-topped white flower corymbs 2 to 3 inches across open over a low mound of rounded birch-like leaves. Native bees, honey bees, syrphid flies, small beetles, and butterflies. Including Western Tiger Swallowtails. Work the flat clusters. Autumn foliage shifts to orange, red, and purple, giving the compact shrub a strong seasonal second act.

Indigenous ethnobotany is deep. The Okanagan-Colville, Shuswap, and Thompson nations used Spiraea betulifolia as a medicinal plant. For colds, gastrointestinal care, analgesic use, and as a tea beverage, per the Native American Ethnobotany database.

Full sun. Drought-tolerant and soil-tolerant; thrives on lean rocky ground. Suckers gently to form a slowly spreading low colony, easy to site where a tidy native shrub is wanted. Hardy Zone 3-8. Deer-resistant.

Pairs with Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, Ceanothus velutinus, Penstemon serrulatus, Philadelphus lewisii, and native bunchgrasses for a dry-side PNW native planting.