Late Season Bud Burst on Matcha Ball Ash Leaf Spirea - November 2024

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Just when everything was going dormant, dropping their foliage and going to bed for the season, I'm seeing a couple of anomalies.  First, was that Vanilla Strawberry Hydrangea bloom last week.  Everything else is in decline...but one stem and small pink bloom.  Today, I'm posting a photo of something else:  the Matcha Ball Ash Leaf Spirea in our backyard.  This is planted in the 'kitchen curved' bed on the southside, right near the Butterscotch Amsonia.  

This is one of two of these shrubs that have a Japanese-garden-inspired look to their fern-like foliage.  The other one is in the front porch bed.  These never did SUPER great this year after being planted in November of 2023.    I noticed that these had set some buds this Fall and assumed they went dormant.  

But...we haven't had a hard frost...yet.  Normally it arrives in/around mid-October.  But, this year...everything is winding down very slowly.

The Matcha Ball Ash Leaf Spirea, however...had a different idea.  It is confused and we're seeing the buds burst on this thing RIGHT NOW - in November.  See below for a look at the current state of this shrub:

These little buds are opening up.  Right when they're supposed to be winding down.

Is this a result of late-Summer drought stress?  Like...could this be the second 'growth' of the season and it took the cooler temps of the Fall (and some rain) to get this thing back to being on offense?  

I'm not sure.  But...I'll be watching this shrub in Spring to see if it comes back after this confusing Fall - and likely....tough Winter. 

Location: Downers Grove, IL, USA

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