The common spindle. An undemanding and attractive shrub

You still have few days left to plant a beautiful deciduous shrub and improve your garden. If you miss this opportunity, you need to wait until spring. We are talking about Euonymus europaeus or the common spindle. It grows to a height of 3 to 5 meters and produces beautiful deep pink flowers. It is actually a sprawling shrub, but it will grow in difficult terrains too. You can plant it in a steep slope, for example, and it will do well because it is able to form a strong root system rather quickly.

Flowers and leaves are pure joy

The common spindle is mainly known for its flowers, but its leaves contribute a great deal to the overall beautiful appearance of this shrub. Leaves are dark green during the season and in autumn they turn red.Flowers bloom from May to June. First, they start small as inconspicuous things that are greenish and whitebut later they develop into very beautiful pink fruits. Birds love the fruit so, your garden will be more attractive to birds. Because the common spindle grows in hard-to-reach space it is often used to strengthen slopes. It looks awesome in groups.

Photo Pixabay

Site selection

A sunny or slightly shady location is ideal.Ordinary garden soil is fine. The only condition is that the soil must be permeable and not retain too much water. You can grow the common spindle outdoors all year round. It is frost-resistant.

Toxicity

The bush is popular mainly for its fruit. In some parts of the world they are called “bishop’s caps” because they look like a cap. Berries contain seeds and as mentioned above, birds love the fruits, but they are poisonous to humans. And not only the fruit is poisonous to humans. Other parts of the plant are poisonous too as they contain glycosides and alkaloids. So, be careful when working with the shrub and keep children and pets away. Because the fruit looks so nice and harmful, children could try to play with it or even taste it. So, be careful.

Non-deciduous common spindle variety

Non-deciduous spindles are also popular but they are smaller and grow to a height of about half a meter, which may be preferred by some gardeners. You may grow them in containers too. These are also climbing plants and can climb walls up to 1.5 meter high. So, if you want to decorate your gazebo or wall you may try the climbing variety. In Central Europe you can see two types of non-deciduous spindles: Euonymus fortunei, called the fortune’s spindle, and Euonymus japonicas, the Japanese spindle.

Preview photo: Pixabay