Itea Virginica Virginia Sweetspire has dark green, elliptical leaves with serrated margins that turn red, orange, and golden in fall. Virginia Sweetspire is a deciduous, erect shrub with rounded growth. Long clusters of tiny, scented, white flowers appear amongst the elegant foliage from May to June. These blossoms give way to copper-brown fruit-like capsules in fall. Drawing butterflies, hummingbirds, songbirds, and small mammals, Virginia Sweetspire is perfect for mass plantings. This shrub grows best in organic, well-drained, moist soils under partial sunlight.