The Blooming Viburnum
All the gardens at my Bedford, New York farm are looking so vibrant and full this year. Among the eye-catchers right now are all the viburnums exploding with blooms around my Winter House.
Viburnums have long been one of the most popular flowering landscape shrubs. This large group of plants consists of more than 150 species and numerous named cultivars. Viburnums include deciduous and evergreen specimens as well as small trees, mostly native to North America or to Asia. The flowers come in three major types - flat clusters of florets, flat umbels outlined with larger blossoms, and dome-shaped, snowballs. I grow several varieties here at Cantitoe - and all are my favorites.
Enjoy these photos.
-
- Located right outside my Winter House is my White Garden – a beautiful space nestled under the partial shade of two stunning katsura trees, Cercidiphyllum. In the front corners are two topiary viburnum. Viburnum is a genus of about 150 to 175 species of flowering plants in the family Adoxaceae along with elderberry.
-
- Here is a closer look at one of the two topiary viburnums abloom with delicate white flowers.
-
- The flowers can be sweetly fragrant and are primarily creamy white, but can vary in shades from white to pink. The individual florets grow in clusters usually found at the ends of branches.
-
- Viburnum flowers are produced in corymbs that are about five to 15 centimeters across, each with five petals.
-
- Topiary viburnums look exquisite planted in the garden, but they can also be planted in large containers. As with any planting, always consider the mature size of the specimen when choosing a specific pot or location.
-
- Further down in the same garden, I have three other varieties including these Japanese and Chinese snowballs. Viburnum shrubs can range in height from two feet to 30 feet tall. These stand along one side of my driveway – everyone always stops to take a look.
-
- This is Chinese Viburnum, Viburnum macrocephalum. It shows off six to eight inch flower clusters that open in April. The blossoms are composed entirely of sterile flowers that are lime green at first, changing to white.
-
- The shrub is full of these beautiful white snowballs. Chinese snowballs grow up to 12 to 20 feet tall with a dense, rounded form.
-
- Here is the Japanese snowball, Viburnum plicatum. This shrub grows eight to 15 feet tall and wide. It has showy, two to three-inch snowball-like clusters of white sterile flowers which also start blooming in April.
-
- Japanese snowballs prefers moist, but well drained soil, and some shade.
-
- A deep watering once a week is usually sufficient for viburnums, either through rainfall or irrigation. Native varieties that are well-established are fairly drought tolerant.
-
- Each shrub looks more full than the last.
-
- At the corner is a doublefile viburnum – one of the most attractive of viburnums, with a spreading, horizontal branching form.
-
- The delicate flowers of a doublefile viburnum look very similar to the flat flowers of the lacecap hydrangea. It blooms in April with two to four-inch clusters of small fertile flowers edged with large, sterile flowers, giving the lacecap effect.
-
- This Viburnum mariesii is one of two in my Stewartia Garden – also doublefile.
-
- This pair was planted here just a few years ago and already blooms so gloriously every spring. Viburnums are mostly moderate- to fast-growing plants. They can grow from one foot to more than two feet per year.
-
- Here, one can see how the flowers form on top of the branches. They are borne in terminal or axillary panicles, clusters, corymbs, or cymes, which are often spherical or domed.
-
- The foliage ranges from glossy green to a dull, dark green, velvet appearance to foliage that is thick and leathery.
-
- Many viburnums flower best in full sun, but light preferences vary from full sun to mostly shade.
-
- I have several more viburnums flowering in the perennial garden across from my vegetable gardens.
-
- In the fall, these shrubs will feature colors ranging from a glossy red to scarlet or purple. Viburnums are loved for their flowers, their fragrance, and their fruits and provide interest throughout the seasons. If you don’t have one in your garden, I hope this inspires you to plant one, or two, or even more…
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
