Pieris Japonica Mountain Fire - Mountain Fire - Plant in 9 cm Pot

A beautiful shrub and one of many cultivars of Pieris japonica, which itself was introduced around 1887 from China Taiawn and Japan. Mountain Fire is a widely grown favourite and has been granted the RHS Award of Garden Merit. It produces panicles of flowers from late autumn which open in spring to form stunning drooping cascades of small white pitcher shaped flowers. Red new growths which cover the plant in spring and occasionally intermittently through the summer turn a glossy chestnut brown before later becoming green. Pieris are very similar to Rhododendrons and require an acid or neutral lime free soil preferably one that is moist but with good drainage. As the new growth can be damaged by late frosts a protected location or one slightly over hung is best but not essential to the survival of the plant which is quite hardy. A delightful plant which can be used in a mixed planting or as a stand alone specimen in the garden or can easily be grown in a pot. When growing in a pot or other container. Use a good quality ericaceous John Innes compost as this plant will be there a long time and peaty types of compost eventually degrade and become too packed and choke the roots. Ensure you feed regularly as a hungry plant is a poor performer. We recommend Osmoscote pro 12-14 month applied in the early spring. One application gives all the nutrients the plant requires for the whole year. John Innes is a soils based compost.