Is Spirea Poisonous to Dogs?

With their colorful foliage and a beautiful combination of showy flowers, spireas are some of the most popular flowering shrubs in many gardens today.

They possess the natural ability to brighten your garden and keep it that way for many months.

Their beautiful and bright blooms make them ideal for a range of landscape functions including perennial borders, mass plantings, informal hedges, and groundcovers.

What’s there not to love about this hardy shrub?

Not so fast. As a pet parent, the safety of your pets is paramount.

At the end of the day, the little fellas come first before your gardening dreams.

Here is a quick, effective guide for any dog owner looking to plant spirea. In particular, we answer the question of whether the plant is safe for your pet or not.

What Is Spirea?

The term spirea refers to a family of over 100 species of flowers belonging to the rose family (or Rosaceae).

 It is common in the north temperate zone with people planting them from Spring well into Autumn.

All the members of the spirea family are hardy deciduous shrubs consisting of tiny simple leaves with serrated margins.

The flowers are small and grouped into dense inflorescences each having five petals, several stamens, and sepals.

The family is also called the genus Spiraea.

The most common flower in the spirea family is the Vanhoutte spirea, also called bridal wealth. This one grows to a height of 6 feet and gives branches with white flowers that bloom in spring.

Others include the scalloped spirea (S. crenata) and three-lobed spireaor Asian meadowsweet (S. trilobata).

Examples of summer varieties are Japanese white spirea (S.albiflora), Japanese spirea (S. japonica), and steeplebush (S. tomentosa).

Is Spirea Toxic To Dogs?

Unfortunately, no member of the spirea family is listed by the ASPCA and other reputable dog organization sites as toxic or not.

However, as a member of the Rosacea family, it is safe to assume that it is not toxic. ASPCA lists Rose as safe for cats and dogs.

Spirea doesn’t contain any of the toxic saponins that can be fatal to dogs such as calcium oxalates, glycosides, colchicine, and others.

Plus, unlike roses which have thorns in their stems, spirea plants are thornless making them much safer. Your doggie can roll in the flower or ingest some of the leaves or flowers and he will experience no harm whatsoever.

With that said, you should be careful to not allow Fido to consume a whole lot of the spirea plant.

Despite being non-toxic, it falls in the plant matter category. Dogs are not necessarily created to consume plants in copious amounts like cows and sheep.

If he consumes more than his body can handle, he will have stomach upsets, vomiting, and diarrhea as her body tries to process the green food.

If you notice any of these symptoms, you might want to induce vomiting as you prepare to rush your doggie to the vet.

Puppies are especially at risk of having intestinal blockages from consuming flowers and leaves in massive amounts. In such a case, your fur baby will need help getting rid of the green matter in her digestive tract.

So, as a word of caution, while spirea is safe for your canine friend, you want to keep a close eye on her when she visits the garden or during walks just to make sure she doesn’t chomp on a whole lot of the shrub.

Parting Thoughts

You love your pooch more than anything which is why you must assess everything at home to make sure it is dog-friendly.

Thankfully, spirea is not a toxic plant. Feel free to plant it in the garden or as a landscape shrub. Either way, you can rest assured your dog is safe around it.