Saint Peter's wreath
- noun
:
espirea
- Many landscapers recommend planting Saint Peter's wreath for its beautiful spring display.
Examples
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She trimmed the Saint Peter's wreath after it had finished flowering in late spring.
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I love the smell of Saint Peter's wreath in spring.
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In the garden, the Saint Peter's wreath was covered with tiny white blossoms.
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The garden was filled with beautiful Saint Peter's wreath.
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In the garden, the Saint Peter's wreath was covered with tiny white blossoms.
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Many landscapers recommend planting Saint Peter's wreath for its beautiful spring display.
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She trimmed the Saint Peter's wreath after it had finished flowering in late spring.
Synonyms
A small bush with many white flowers that bloom in spring
A garden shrub with arching branches and many small white flowers in spring
A shrub with many small white flowers that blooms in spring
A shrub with curving branches and groups of small white flowers, often grown in gardens
Surface Forms
Morphology
The element 'wreath' gives a clear floral/decorative cue and 'Saint Peter's' marks an eponymous name, so a learner who knows the parts may guess it is plant- or flower-related. However, the specific sense — a particular shrub with abundant small white spring flowers used ornamentally — is lexicalized and not directly derivable from the constituents, so the relation is only partially predictable.
Etymology
Saint Peter's wreath may get its name from the way its many small white flowers cover the bending branches and form a round, wreath-like shape. One popular story says gardeners thought this circle of flowers looked like a crown for Saint Peter's feast day, so the name came to mean this shrub with showy spring blooms.
