Viburnum
Good luck finding a more diverse group of shrubs for the garden. Viburnums offer something for everyone. Whether you plant them for their colorful berries, showy flowers, wonderful fragrance, or brilliant foliage and stem color, viburnum options are seemingly endless.
Viburnum
Good luck finding a more diverse group of shrubs for the garden. Viburnums offer something for everyone. Whether you plant them for their colorful berries, showy flowers, wonderful fragrance, or brilliant foliage and stem color, viburnum options are seemingly endless.
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Garden Plans For Viburnum
Diverse Blooms, Foliage, and Berries
Viburnum bloom time can vary from early spring to mid-late summer. Bloom shapes and sizes are also unpredictable. Some varieties, like Doublefile, have layered blooms. Snowball bush viburnum is the most common viburnum variety. Many early-blooming varieties also have a lovely fragrance. The Korean spice viburnum is noted in particular for its spicy smell.
Viburnum foliage is typically oval, with leaves coming to a point. Doublefile viburnum has pronounced veining. Cranberry bush viburnum is one of the few that has lobed leaves.
Most viburnums have wonderful berries to top off the nice flowers and foliage. A few, like the arrowhead viburnum, are grown for their bright blue berries in the fall. Cranberry bush viburnum have bright berries that resemble cranberries. Viburnum berries can range from red, pink, blue, purple, and even black.
Viburnum Care Must-Knows
As diverse as viburnum is, site requirements don't vary much. Generally, full sun is best for the finest show of blooms, berries, and fall color. Some thick-leaf varieties, however, can tolerate shade. In the shade, be mindful of foliar diseases like black spot. Viburnums also prefer to stay dry. If you need to prune your viburnums, do it immediately after flowering—waiting too long can sacrifice some of next year's blooms.
See more plants that work as hedges.
More Varieties of Virburnum
Viburnum dentatum is an upright shrub native to areas of North America. It offers a good show of orange-yellow fall color, clusters of white flowers in spring to late summer, and blue-black fruits in fall. It grows 10 feet tall and wide. Zones 3-8
Viburnum burkwoodii is a rounded, evergreen to deciduous shrub (depending on area) that develops domed clusters of pink buds that open to very fragrant tubular white flowers. The red fruit ripens to black in fall. It grows 8 feet tall and wide. Zones 4-8
Viburnum opulus 'Roseum' features lobed, maple leaflike, dark green foliage and clusters of bright red berries following the lacecap flowers. It grows 15 feet tall and 12 feet wide. Zones 4-8
Viburnum plicatum 'Mariesii' bears layered, horizontal branches that add an architectural accent to the border. This deciduous shrub produces lacecap blooms in late spring, followed by purple fruits. It grows 10 feet tall and 12 feet wide. Zones 4-8
Viburnum trilobum 'Wentworth' is a colorful selection that features rich red autumn foliage and yellow-red fruits that ripen to deep red. It grows 15 feet tall by 12 feet wide. Zones 2-7
Viburnum trilobum is native to areas of North America and features maplelike leaves that show good fall color in shades of yellow to red. Lacecap-type blooms in spring are followed by edible red fruits. It grows 15 feet tall and 12 feet wide. Zones 2-7
Viburnum x rhytidophylloides 'Allegheny' is a rounded, semi-evergreen shrub with long, dark green leaves and an abundance of yellowish-white flower clusters in spring and red fruits in fall. It grows 10 feet tall and 12 feet wide. Zones 5-8
Viburnum carlesii 'Aurora' features large clusters of extremely fragrant tubular flowers, white to pink-blushed white, in mid- to late spring. The toothed, dark green leaves redden in fall when grown in colder climates. It grows 8 feet tall and wide. Zones 5-8
Viburnum setigerum 'Aurantiacum' is an upright, deciduous shrub with dark green to blue-green foliage that produces white flowers in spring, followed by abundant orange-red fruits. It grows 12 feet tall and 8 feet wide. Zones 5-7
Viburnum plicatum tomentosum offers horizontal branches that are laden with flattened lacecap flowers in late spring, followed by sprays of red fruit that ripen to blue black. Plants grow 10 feet tall and 12 feet wide. Zones 4-9
Viburnum macrocephalum offers big, pompom clusters of snowy-white flowers in late spring on a rounded, deciduous shrub that can also be trained as a small tree. It does not produce fruit and grows 15 feet tall and wide. Zones 7-9
Viburnum carlesii is a bushy, deciduous shrub that bears extremely fragrant white flowers in mid- to late spring. The toothed, dark green leaves redden in fall. It grows 6 feet tall and wide. Zones 5-8
Viburnum plicatum 'Summer Snowflake' is a compact selection with white flowers in spring and again in summer and fall. It displays excellent autumn foliage color and reddish fruits. It grows 5 feet tall and wide. Zones 5-8
Viburnum x juddii is a rounded shrub highlighted by dark green leaves that may redden before dropping in fall. Clusters of fragrant pink-tinged flowers open from pink buds mid- to late spring. It grows 4 feet tall and 5 feet wide. Zones 5-9
Viburnum plicatum tomentosum 'Shasta' bears big white flowers spring to early summer on horizontal branches. It grows 6 feet high and 12 feet wide. Zones 4-8