V. dilatatum
V. opulus
V. opulus var. 'Compactum'
V. wrightii
V. wrightii var. 'Hessei'
V. lantana
Start red:
V. sieboldii
V. plicatum varieties
V. veitchii
V. lentago
V. prunifolium
V. rufidulum
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| V. lantanoides |
V. dilatatum V. opulus V. opulus var. 'Compactum' V. wrightii V. wrightii var. 'Hessei' V. dentatum |
V. acerifolium |
V. lantana Start red: V. sieboldii V. plicatum varieties V. veitchii V. cassinoides |
V. lentago V. prunifolium V. rufidulum | |
Foliage and Habit
I've always loved the leaves on a couple of mine, but there are some whose leaves are so attractive that they can be grown for foliage alone. I'll show you some of these later in this series. Fall color will be best, in those who have it, if they are grown in sun. A couple of mine are supposed to have great fall color, but I've never seen it...and, of course, they are growing in shady spots.
Most viburnums are definitely shrubs; some are multi-stemmed or suckering. The following, however, can be grown with a single trunk, eventually reaching tree size - up to thirty feet (9.1 m) tall.
Smaller forms include:
My Viburnums
I've grown four or five (some ID confusion here) of these lovely shrubs for many years - none in full sun - and have more on my lust list for the future.
V. x carlcephalum (fragrant snowball) is the first to bloom for me, permeating my USDA zone 7 garden with honey in late April - about the same time that the native dogwoods (C. florida) bloom.
She's a hybrid of V. carlesii, the fragrant viburnum and V. macrocephalum, the Chinese snowball, who was raised in 1932 at the Burkwood and Skipworth Nursery in England and was introduced into the US about 1957.
Both Wyman and Dirr say this is not as fragrant as V. carlesii, whom I have never had the chance to sniff. If this is so, V. carlesii must have a powerful scent, indeed.
Wyman does say that V. x carlcephalum is a better form, since V. carlesii is subject to graft blight disease as it grows older. Dirr may not be fond of it, but it received a RHS AGM... and I side with the RHS!
Hardy to USDA zone 5 or 6 to 8 or 9 (depending on resource), V. x carlcephalum will reach ten feet (3.04 m) with an equal spread. I know mine is at least that tall, and possibly a bit taller, after eighteen years. Mine is grown in pretty heavy shade, sandwiched in between tall Leyland cypress overshadowed by huge oaks on the west and a clump of trees on the east. A few direct rays of sun may reach it at high noon, but not for long. It flowers faithfully each year, never seeming to mind late frosts. The form on my plant is quite open and loose - as Dirr describes it - although I've always put that down to the amount of shade it's growing in. Dirr also says hardiness is suspect in colder zones than 6, but I'd give it a try in 5b, if you have the space for it.
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