• Great spring display of white flower heads
• A profusion of shiny red berries, edible for us, and loved by birds
• Handsome three-lobed leaves turn magnificent reds in fall
• Cold hardy into the coldest parts of the country
• Easy to grow and a native plant

Growing the Double File Viburnum

Size and Appearance

The Double File Viburnum is a broad deciduous shrub, with branches arranged in horizontal layers. Mature plants can be up to 12 feet across, so allow enough room for its future growth when planting. It can grow almost as tall too, although its height can be controlled a bit with pruning, and keeping it to 6 feet tall is easily done. The layered look is a large part of this plant’s beauty, so avoid trimming it. The leaves are 3 to 4 inches long, with a mat surface and toothed edges. The prominent veins give the leaves a ‘pleated’ look, and they stay clean all summer, keeping their rich mid to dark green coloring until fall. Then they develop bright burgundy reds and purples, making a great fall display.

Flowers open in May or June, or even earlier in warm zones. The flowers are spread all along the branches, like decoration on a wedding cake, and they are a perfect pure white. About 4 inches across, they are in two rows, alternating, as if someone had arranged them perfectly. The flower clusters have two types of flowers. There is an outer circle of larger flowers with flat petals, each up to 1¾ inch across, surrounding a center of many smaller white flowers, resembling a lace-cap hydrangea. After flowering clusters of bright red berries form, also along the branches, making a lovely display in late summer. These are attractive to birds, so sadly they don’t last more than a few weeks, but may persist right into the winter months.

Using the Double File Viburnum in Your Garden

This large shrub should be given a prominent position in your garden, a place to itself where it can show off its horizontal branches. The corner between two walls in ideal, or on a slope. It could also be used behind low-growing shrubs that bloom in spring, or perhaps with low hydrangeas in front for later blooming. It’s perfect for a white-themed garden, and of course it also goes with all other flower colors. Allow plenty of room, planting at least 6 feet from a wall or fence, and don’t plant in front of windows. It is also lovely in a natural woodland setting, or on the sunny side of trees, although it isn’t a native shrub.

Hardiness

The Double File Viburnum is hardy in zone 5, and we have reports of it growing in zone 4, as long as it is sheltered, and allowing for some die-back in a hard winter. It also grows well in warmer zones, all the way into zone 5.

Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions

Grow the Double File Viburnum in sun, although in hot zones some afternoon shade is valuable, especially if the soil is drier. It will also grow in the shadow of large trees, but avoid places with any significant shade. Able to grow in most ordinary garden soils, it does best in moist, well-drained soils enriched with plenty of organic material. Neutral or acidic soils are preferred, but not essential. Avoid wet places, dry places and areas with more than normal summer dryness, which established plants can handle.

Maintenance and Pruning

We often assume spectacular plants are hard to grow, but this one isn’t. It doesn’t have any serious pests or diseases and it’s generally trouble-free. Never use trimmers on it, as this will destroy the layered look. To keep it lower and broad, never trim side branches, but shorten the strong vertical stems that grow up once it becomes established and starts to grow vigorously. If these are cut regularly, lots of horizontal branches develop, and it won’t grow too tall, emphasizing the horizontal form.

History and Origin of the Double File Viburnum

You need to travel to China or Japan to see the Double File Viburnum, Viburnum plicatum, growing wild, and gardeners in those countries have grown it for centuries. They collected varieties with flower heads that were all large flowers, making round heads like mophead hydrangeas. These were the first forms brought back by people like the Scottish botanist Robert Fortune, who brought plants over in 1846. These double forms are still sometimes seen. Plants with single, lace-cap type flowers, called ‘variety tomentosum’, also came early, around 1865, but it wasn’t until 1879 that Charles Maries, a plant collector for the English nursery of Messrs Veitch, brought back the one today called ‘Mariesii’. The nursery released it with that name in 1902, and it soon became coveted by everyone with larger gardens – like yours.

Buying the Double File Viburnum at the Tree Center

England’s Royal Horticultural Society gave the Double File Viburnum their coveted Award of Garden Merit in 1929, and again in 1993, which just shows how highly regarded this plant is. Every garden with some room should have this shrub – check out some of the other varieties if your space is more limited. This wonderful shrub is becoming hard to find, so we are thrilled to have some in stock – order now, because we know they won’t be around long, and who knows when they will be back again.

Growing Japanese Snowball Viburnum

Size and Appearance

The Japanese Snowball Viburnum is a deciduous shrub that typically grows to about 10 feet tall and wide, although in ideal conditions it may in time reach 15 feet. The dimensions can be controlled to some extent with regular pruning. It forms a multi-stem bush, with a tendency for the branches to grow horizontally, something that can be accentuated by pruning. The bark on young stems is an attractive light gray, becoming darker and rougher with age. The relatively thick leaves are in pairs along the stems, up to 4 inches long, oval, with a neatly serrated edge and pronounced veins spreading from the mid-rib. They are semi-mat and soft to the touch, tending to hang downwards in an attractive way along the horizontal branches. They are a warm dark green, turning splendid shades of bright reds and rich burgundies in fall.

In late spring round balls of flowers, about 3 inches across, form at every leaf pair, with the balls also in pairs, decorating the branches in a charming way. The flowers are pure, snowy white. They last for several weeks, before fading and falling. The plant doesn’t produce any fruits. A bush in bloom in very attractive, with a classic look suggestive of historic gardens, and the blooms resemble small hydrangeas, setting the stage for the main hydrangea season to come. Butterflies are attracted to the blooms.

Using the Japanese Snowball Viburnum in Your Garden

With its attractive leaves and beautiful early flowers, the Japanese Snowball Viburnum is an excellent background shrub for flower beds, behind smaller shrubs, roses, and hydrangeas. Its broad form fills corners well, and it is excellent positioned in the angles of walls. Grow it around your home, or out in beds, or in more natural, woodland settings, perhaps with azaleas, rhododendrons and camellias. When planting consider the future wide spread of this plant – allow for about 12 feet across. You could use some perennial plants or quick-growing shrubs to fill the space for a few years.

Hardiness

Fully hardy in zone 5, this shrub grows well in all but the hottest areas. In zone 9 in the southeast, it may be too hot, and the winters may not be cold enough to develop the flower buds properly.

Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions

Tolerant across a range of light conditions, the Japanese Snowball Viburnum grows well in full sun if the soil is not too dry, and in partial shade, favoring spots where there is shade during the hottest part of the day. It grows well in any well-drained soil, except for very alkaline and limestone soils, and wet, heavy clays. It does very well in the same conditions as azaleas, but is much more tolerant of neutral and slightly alkaline soils. Richer, moist soils give the best results, but established plants have reasonable drought tolerance and most gardens can support this plant with ease.

Maintenance and Pruning

Generally free of pests or diseases, this plant is notable for being unaffected by the viburnum leaf beetle which is causing so much damage to other species in several parts of the country. So the Japanese Snowball Viburnum stays attractive through summer as an excellent background, even after it has flowered. Dead-heading isn’t necessary, but could be done for neatness, before flowers wither and fall naturally. Some pruning is recommended to maximize its beauty but isn’t essential in more informal settings. Prune immediately after flowering, by thinning out the side shoots on the main vertical stems to encourage long horizontal branches – which should not be trimmed unless absolutely essential. Shorten strong vertical shoots which rise too tall, cutting back to a pair of leaves while still young – they will shoot out sideways after that.

History and Origin of the Japanese Snowball Viburnum

The Japanese viburnum, Viburnum plicatum, is sometimes called the double-file viburnum because of the pairs of flowers that form along the branches. It was first brought back from Japan in two forms, one with single flowers, originally called Viburnum tomentosum, and the other with double flowers, called Viburnum plicatum. Unfortunately there was a previous usage of ‘tomentosum’ for a viburnum, so the species became Viburnum plicatum, even though that plant was not found growing wild, but from a nursery. So today the ‘wild’ plant is Viburnum plicatum var. tomentosum, while the double flowered plant of gardens is Viburnum plicatum var. plicatum – the Japanese Snowball Viburnum. It first arrived in Europe in 1846, and again in 1860, and by the 1870s it was being widely grown in gardens. It was probably introduced directly into America from Japan around the same time. It became a feature of gardens in the late 19th century, and the first half of the 20th century, losing popularity with the introduction of so many new plants in the last 50 years. It’s a pity, because this is a beautiful shrub, and very valuable for its spring blooms.

Buying the Japanese Snowball Viburnum at the Tree Center

Increasingly rare, the Japanese Snowball Viburnum deserves a place in every garden, especially if you have an older home, where you can be sure it was once grown. Its rarity means it won’t be with us for long, so order now and capture a little of the gardening past for a more beautiful future in your garden.

Growing the Ying Viburnum

Size and Appearance

The Yin Viburnum is a medium-sized evergreen shrub of vigorous growth, with dense branching and abundant foliage, growing to between 2 and 4 feet tall, and spreading outwards to around 4 feet wide. Without any trimming it stays neat and always attractive. The leathery leaves are close together on the stems, in opposite pairs, and they are smooth and a strong dark-green, with a slightly textured surface, but still glossy. They are elegant long ovals, tapering to a tip, with 3 prominent veins running along their length, creating 3 grooves that give this bush a fascinating look. The leaves are about 3½ inches long and 1½ inches wide. New leaves are a lighter green, and the strong green coloring is kept throughout the winter months.

In spring clusters of flowers develop at the ends of branches from the previous year. These are in clusters about 2 inches across, and the flowers are small and white. If you also grow the necessary pollinator, the Yang Viburnum, nearby, both bushes will benefit and produce clusters of as many as 50 berries, each ¼ inch long, green at first and then maturing in late summer or fall to become an amazing and unique turquoise blue color. These last for some time through fall and into the winter.

Using the Yin Viburnum in Your Garden

A striking evergreen shrub, the Yin Viburnum is great everywhere, from the more formal areas around your house to out in woodland and natural gardens. It is perfect for the middle of beds, or along a path, and a perfect companion for azaleas, camellias, and rhododendrons. For rows and group planting, space plants about 3 feet apart. Use it to fill areas beneath large trees, or tuck it against clipped conifer evergreens, for interesting foliage contrast. In zones 8 and 9 it can be used for planter boxes and pots too. Plant the lower-growing Yang Viburnum in front, so you can enjoy those amazing berries.

Hardiness

The Yin Viburnum is only hardy in warmer zones, growing in warmer parts of zone 7, and in zones 8 and 9. Some leaf damage in winter could happen in colder parts of zone 7 – the use of anti-desiccant spray could reduce that risk. It tolerates hot and humid summers much better than the similar David Viburnum.

Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions

The Yin Viburnum will grow in shady parts of your garden, but it will produce more flowers – and therefore more berries – if it has 4 to 6 hours of direct sun each day. This is best in the mornings, with protective afternoon shade, but with good watering it can also be grown in full sun, especially in zone 7. It needs well-drained soil, so avoid wet areas, and it grows best in moist, rich soils that are slightly acidic, although that is not an absolute necessity. Compared to the similar David Viburnum, this is an easy and tolerant shrub to grow in many garden situations.

Maintenance and Pruning

Vigorous and fast-growing, the Yin Viburnum is not particularly troubled by pests and diseases, as long as it isn’t regularly dry at the roots. It is generally neat and compact, so avoid trimming it, as this can easily prevent or greatly reduce flowering. Removing any very tall, isolated stems in spring is all it might need, but don’t over prune – it is naturally compact and bushy.

History and Origin of the Yin Viburnum

The David Viburnum, Viburnum davidii, is a handsome evergreen shrub from Western China, named by the collector Ernest Wilson in honor of the French naturalist and missionary Pere Armand David. It is one of the most beautiful and unique evergreen shrubs, but unfortunately slow-growing and difficult in areas with hot, humid summers. Early this century Dr. Thomas Ranney, a plant breeder at South Carolina University, realized that a hybrid of this plant might be much easier to grow. So he crossed it with Viburnum propinquum, sometimes called the Chinese evergreen viburnum. It too comes from western China, and grows to around 8 feet tall and wide. After producing hybrid seedlings, Dr. Ranney worked with those seedlings, crossing them again. In 2011 he picked out one promising plant that looked very like the David Viburnum, and called it ‘NCVX2’. This is the plant released to gardeners, with the name Yin, by Spring Meadow Nursery under their Proven Winners® brand. The pollinating partner, Yang (‘NCVX3’) was selected the next year.

Buying the Yin Viburnum at the Tree Center

The Yin Viburnum is a fabulous new plant that gives you that amazing David viburnum look, without the hassle and difficulties. Use it wherever you need a compact and handsome evergreen, and plant its companion, the Yang Viburnum, to enjoy the remarkable turquoise blueberries they will produce. Everyone is excited about these new plants, and they are sure to be racing out of our gates. Order now, and don’t miss out.

Growing the Yang Viburnum

Size and Appearance

The Yang Viburnum is a low-growing evergreen shrub, densely branched and bushy, growing to around 2 feet tall and about 4 feet wide, making a lovely low mound. The leaves grow densely on the branches, and they are about 2 inches long, in opposite pairs along the branches. They are smooth, glossy, and tapering ovals, with a pointed tip and smooth edges. They are slightly leathery, and young leaves are mid-green, maturing to a beautiful and rich dark green. Three pronounced sunken veins run along the leaf, giving it a distinctive and attractive look.

In spring flower clusters form at the ends of the branches. These are 2 to 4 inches across, with many tiny white flowers in them. When pollinated by the Yin Viburnum, they develop into clusters of up to 50 berries, each around ¼ inch long, which begin green and then by fall are a beautiful dark wedgwood blue.

Using the Yang Viburnum in Your Garden

This gorgeous evergreen, with its broad, low form, is a natural for the fronts of beds, perhaps where they meet a path or patio, and for planting underneath trees. It will give your beds a great finish, or in smaller settings plant a cluster as a highlight, perhaps at a corner, or beside steps. Three feet apart is about right for group plantings or edging. It’s a good companion to azaleas, rhododendrons and camellias too, or in open woodland gardens. It makes sense to plant it with the Yin Viburnum, which grows taller but is otherwise very similar. That way you will have both covered in berries, and enjoy their evergreen foliage as well. In zones 8 and 9 you can also use this as a container or planter box shrub for year-round good looks.

Hardiness

The Yang Viburnum is only hardy in warmer zones. It grows well in zones 7, 8 and 9, even in areas with hotter summers, where the David Viburnum won’t grow so well.

Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions

The Yang Viburnum will tolerate considerable shade, but it does grow best, and produce more flowers and therefore berries, when grown with at least 4 hours of direct sunlight each day. Morning sun is ideal, giving it the protection of afternoon shade. In zone 7, with good watering, it would grow well in full sun. the ideal soil is rich, moist and well-drained. Acid soil is also enjoyed, but not strictly necessary.

Maintenance and Pruning

Faster growing than the David Viburnum, the Yang Viburnum is not troubled by significant pest or disease problems, if grown in rich but well-drained soil. It doesn’t need much, or any trimming, but pruning back any taller branches in spring will keep it really neat, low and compact – the ideal look

History and Origin of the Yang Viburnum

Dr. Thomas Ranney is a well-known horticulturist and plant breeder at South Carolina State University in Raleigh. Working at their Mill River facility he crossed together plants of Viburnum davidii with plants of Viburnum propinquum, and then crossed some of those seedlings to develop better garden forms. Viburnum davidii is a popular garden shrub where it can be grown, coming originally from western China and named by Ernest Wilson after the French missionary and naturalist, Armand David. Viburnum propinquum is a similar but taller evergreen with blue-black berries, also from western China, and much easier to grow in average gardens in the Southeast. In 2012 Dr. Ranney selected a seedling which was called `NCVX3`. It was patented in 2021 and named Yang for its release by Spring Meadow Nursery under their Proven Winners® brand.

Buying the Yang Viburnum at the Tree Center

The Yang Viburnum, and the similar YIN Viburnum, are a great pairing, bringing terrific evergreen foliage into your garden, and the unique pleasure of these lovely blue berries. Plant the Yang Viburnum alone for lovely low evergreen foliage, if the berries are not important to you. We are sure this exciting new pairing is going to become very popular, so order your plants now – our supply is limited.

Growing the Summer Snowflake Viburnum

Size and Appearance

The Summer Snowflake Viburnum is a deciduous shrub of moderate growth, that becomes an upright bush passing 8 feet tall, with a narrower profile to perhaps 6 feet wide. Older plants may become larger in time. It sends up several vertical stems that develop horizontal branches, creating a very special layered look, with the branches in several tiers of growth. The leaves are 3 to 4 inches long and oval, tapering to a pointed tip and with toothed edges. The veins are pronounced, and give the leaves a ‘ribbed’ look. The leaves have a mat surface and they are mid to dark green, staying clean and fresh all summer. In fall they color beautifully, turning dark reds and bold purples, making a great show.

The main flowering time is in May and June – perhaps even earlier in warmer parts of the country. This particular variety is unique, though, in continuing to bloom throughout summer and even into the fall. The flowers are in flattened heads about 3 inches across, carried all along the top of the horizontal branches, in two distinct rows. The effect is very decorative. Each cluster is a circle of pure-white flattened blooms, about 1-inch across, surrounding a central group of tiny white flowers. It looks very similar to the flower heads of a lace-cap hydrangea. The flowers are followed by clusters of berries that turn red in late summer and early fall, making a striking display. Blooms and berries may be seen at the same time, because new blooms keep opening through the summer. Later in fall the berries turn dark red and then black, and they are eventually taken as winter food by wild birds.

Using the Summer Snowflake Viburnum in Your Garden

This wonderful shrub deserves a prime location in your garden, where its beautiful horizontal branching can be appreciated. Place it where it can be seen to the ground, not hidden behind other shrubs. It looks perfect in a corner, or in the angle of a wall, but allow room for it’s final width, and don’t plant in front of low windows. It looks fabulous in a designed garden, but also wonderful in natural, woodland areas, perhaps at the sunny edge of some trees.

Hardiness

The Summer Snowflake Viburnum is hardy in zone 5, and we have reports of it growing in zone 4, as long as it is sheltered, and allowing for some die-back in a hard winter. It also grows well in warmer zones, all the way into zone 5.

Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions

Plant your Summer Snowflake Viburnum in a sunny spot, especially in cooler zones and where the soil is not often dry. In the hottest zones some afternoon shade will be appreciated, and it also grows with some light shade from overhead trees. It will grow in most ordinary garden soils, preferring neutral or acidic soil, but easy to grow almost anywhere. Soils that are generally moist but well-drained are perfect, so avoid wet areas and very dry ones too. Established plants have moderate resistance to drought, but don’t grow well in arid places.

Maintenance and Pruning

Considering how beautiful it is, this plant is very easy to grow. It usually avoids any serious pests or diseases, and once it is established it needs very little attention. Very little pruning is needed, and never take out the trimmers or turn it into a ball. Encourage side branching. If necessary you can cut back any strong vertical stems by up to one-third, to encourage those horizontal branches that are a big part of the beauty of this shrub.

History and Origin of the Summer Snowflake Viburnum

The double-file viburnum is a native plant from China and Japan, where it has been grown in gardens for centuries. The wild plant is called Viburnum plicatum, but the original garden plants had larger flower heads, with many large flowers, and these are called ‘variety tomentosum’. The first plants came to Europe from China in 1846 with the Scottish botanist Robert Fortune, but there have been many more brought over, often from Japan, since then. The most well-known dates to 1902. It is called ‘Mariesii’ and it has more ‘lace-cap’ type flowers and a very broad form, often growing to 12 feet wide, and so too large for most modern gardens. The variety called ‘Summer Snowflake’ was collected in a natural area in Japan by R.F. Michaud of Alpenglow Gardens, Surrey, British Columbia in the early 1960s. He gave plants to the B.C. Botanical Garden in 1975, and they arranged for its release via registration with the Canadian Ornamental Plants Foundation.

Buying the Summer Snowflake Viburnum at the Tree Center

England’s Royal Horticultural Society gave the Summer Snowflake Viburnum their coveted Award of Garden Merit in 1992, confirming it in 2012, so you know just how good this plant must be. Bring the most outstanding of all the Viburnums into your garden by planting this gorgeous shrub. You will love it, but don’t hesitate in ordering, because this plant is always in high demand, and is soon no longer available.

Growing the Winterthur Viburnum

Size and Appearance

The Winterthur Viburnum is an upright deciduous shrub, growing 6 to 10 feet tall and around 6 feet wide. It is well-branched from the ground, looking attractive alone or behind other shrubs. The 4-inch oval leaves have a satisfying glossiness, and make an attractive green background in summer. When fall comes knocking they turn bold shades of maroons and purple-reds, deepening and enriching the fall palette of golds and oranges on other shrubs. This plant flowers a little later than most other viburnums, blooming in June or July. The clusters of honey-fragrant blooms can be 5 inches across, and their milky whiteness adds a bright sparkle. They are popular with butterflies and other pollinators, including several valuable native species. If you find the occasional chewed leaf or caterpillar, spare it for the good of our native insects.

By late summer the flowers will have transformed into big, fat clusters of berries that begin white and then change to pale pink. The colder nights of fall turn them darker pink to near-red, until, little by little, they turn dark-blue, so that for a magical few weeks each cluster is a mix of blue and pink berries. Then, with the leaves gone they slowly all turn navy-blue, hanging on through much of the winter. Unlike some other viburnums, these berries are edible, although very acidic. With some sugar, though, they make interesting additions to pies, or they can be turned into satisfying relishes.

For a good crop of berries it is best to plant another variety of this species somewhere not too far away. We recommend the Brandywine Viburnum (Viburnum nudum ‘Bulk’) for this. Other good choices are Longwood and Pink Beauty. Both plants will carry big, heavy crops of berries when they pollinate each other.

Using the Winterthur Viburnum in Your Garden

This shrub fits well into more organized, structured garden spaces, as well as into wild and natural settings. Plant it at the back of shrub beds, or in the spaces between windows around your home. Grow it in clusters in larger beds, or even out on a lawn. It also looks great at the edge of woodlands, or in sunny clearings. Grow it as a boundary screen where wilder areas meet the neater garden. For rows and group planting, space bushes 3 or 4 feet apart.

Hardiness

The Winterthur Viburnum is hardy in zone 5 and grows happily all the way through into zone 9, making it available to most gardeners.

Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions

Full sun will certainly give you the richest fall colors and the brightest berry crops, but this shrub will happily grow in areas with a few hours of shade each day. It does do best in damper soils, making it a good choice for low-lying areas, heavy clays, and even boggy spots, but it will be fine in ordinary beds too. It has a slight preference for the acid soils that are normal all through the eastern states, but it isn’t bothered much until the soil becomes strongly alkaline.

Maintenance and Pruning

Beside those occasional chewed leaves we mentioned earlier, the Winterthur Viburnum isn’t much bothered by pests or diseases, so there is nothing to worry about there. It’s also only rarely eaten by deer or rabbits, which is great news for planting in wild areas. It’s very low-maintenance, and best left unpruned and untrimmed. If you do need to do some pruning, do it in late fall, but avoid any summer trimming, or the berry crop will be much-reduced. During long dry spells a deep soak will be greatly appreciated, and keep the berry crop coming along well.

History and Origin of the Winterthur Viburnum

Known variously as possumhaw, wild raisin, or with-rod, Viburnum nudum is found wild across a wide area from southern Canada to Florida, and west into Wisconsin. The berries were eaten by native Americans and used as medicine too. In some areas it is threatened by land-drainage reducing the wet places it thrives in. The variety called ‘Winterthur’ was spotted at the Winterthur Museum and Garden, an estate in Delaware created by the magnate Henry Francis du Pont. It was selected for the exceptional glossiness of its leaves, reliable fall coloring and big berry crop. It was released in the 1980s.

Buying the Winterthur Viburnum at the Tree Center

Just to prove how good it is, in 1991 the Winterthur Viburnum won the coveted Steyer Gold Medal from the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. A top-rated plant, and one so easy to grow, is always in high demand, so place your order and plan a day for planting, but do it soon, or all our plants will be gone.

Growing the Northern Burgundy Viburnum

Size and Appearance

The Northern Burgundy Viburnum is a large deciduous shrub that grows to be over 10 feet tall and about 8 feet wide, with a full, rounded profile and branching almost to the ground. Young stems are remarkable for being very straight – they were a top-choice for arrow making by native Americans – with a fuzzy surface that matures to a light-brown, knobby bark on older stems. The leaves are oval, arranged in pairs along the stems, and they are about 4 inches long, tapering to a point and with serrated edges. They have a glossy surface marked with prominent sunken veins, and for most of the year they are a warm mid-green color. Then, as the nights get colder, they take on glowing shades of warm reds and bronzy burgundies. This really adds to the beauty of fall in your garden. This species of viburnum has variable fall color, with many plants being mostly yellow. Not Northern Burgundy, which will reliably give you a fabulous display every fall.

In May or June clusters of creamy-white flowers open at the ends of the stems. These are about 4 inches across, and popular with pollinators, from bees to butterflies. The flowers become clusters of berries ripening in late summer or early fall, when they turn from light green to dusky blues and mature as a dark blue-black color. You can enjoy this berry display for several weeks, and then the fat-rich berries are taken by songbirds and migratory birds – a popular and nutritious treat.

To develop a good berry crop, this bush needs another viburnum of the same species nearby to cross-pollinate each other. Most varieties of arrow-wood will work, or wild plants, but we recommend you grow the Blue Muffin® Viburnum, a more compact variety for the middle of your beds, renowned for the light-blue of its berries. Both varieties will carry a bumper crop. The second variety needs to flower at the same time, and that can vary depending on where you live.

Using the Northern Burgundy Viburnum in Your Garden

Where you need bulk and volume in your beds, this shrub delivers. Grow it out on a lawn, on slopes and by streams and ponds. Plant a row at 5-foot spacing for a solid screen or informal hedge. Plant it in the corners of your yard, or on the sunny side of large trees.

Hardiness

Cold-hardy in zone 3, the Northern Burgundy Viburnum is a fabulous plant for gardeners in colder parts of the country, including the north and northern Midwest. It’s also adaptable to warmer areas, and grows all the way into zone 8 – so almost everyone, everywhere, can grow this great shrub.

Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions

The Northern Burgundy Viburnum will produce the best fall colors when grown in full sun, but it also grows easily in partial shade, or in the dappled light beneath deciduous trees. It prefers moist but well-drained rich soils, but this is tough, reliable shrub that will grow in almost all garden conditions, including heavy clays, wetter soils, and areas prone to flooding. Just avoid areas of stagnant water. It is also a shrub that will survive beneath a black walnut tree, immune to the toxin those trees release into the soil that kills many other plants.

Maintenance and Pruning

The Northern Burgundy Viburnum is not normally troubled by pests or diseases, although you may see a few chewed leaves from the native butterflies that breed on it. Remove thin or weak twigs as it grows, keeping a sturdy framework, but after that it is best to leave this shrub untrimmed, as pruning and trimming will reduce the blooms and berries.

History and Origin of the Northern Burgundy Viburnum

Arrow-wood, Viburnum dentatum, grows wild in woods and by streams across a large area of the east, from the Canada and the Great Lakes across to Maine and south as far as Florida and Texas. The variety called ‘Morton’ began as a plant growing in the collections of the Morton Arboretum, Lisle, Illinois. It was noticed for its reliable and bright fall colors, and with the help of Ralph Synnestvedt, a prominent nurseryman in the area, it was introduced as a Chicagoland Grows® selection, and sold with the trademark name of Northern Burgundy is a plant introduction

Buying the Northern Burgundy Viburnum at the Tree Center

This plant was chosen by a partnership of the Chicago Botanic Garden, the Morton Arboretum and the Ornamental Growers Association of Northern Illinois for their Chicagoland Grows® range – plants suitable for the harsh conditions of the northern Midwest. If it grows well there, it will grow just about anywhere, right? So you know that the Northern Burgundy Viburnum is going to be a success in your garden. These top-quality shrubs are always in short supply, and hard to keep in stock. Order now, because they will soon all be shipped out to our loyal customers.