All I Want Is Spring Flowers and Autumn Glory
Debbie Teashon
During a garden tour in 2005, I found a well-grown, well-pruned doublefile viburnum (Viburnum plicatum f. tomentosum ‘Mariesii’) at the Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens in Woodland, Washington and I mentally filed this specimen away as an excellent possibility for my own garden. In 2012 I began my search for a spring flowering small tree or large shrub, which would also give a colorful fall finale, for my side garden. The space had been cleared of a Pieris japonica and many undesirables, creating a clean palette with many possibilities.
As luck would have it, I needed an autumn illustration for an article and while researching, stumbled across my spring and fall photos of this perfect solution.
Yes!
Grown as a large shrub or a small single trunk tree, this viburnum is perfect for my space, especially because of the two seasons of interest I am looking for.
Growing eight to ten feet tall, with a horizontal tiered shape, it fills spring up with layers upon layers of snow-white, lacecap flowers. Then in the fall, the entire shrub glows with a wine-red frondescence.
Even though it’s sometimes pruned to be a low prostrate form that grows remarkably wide, I recommend letting it grow to its full potential with little to no pruning. You want to give it room to grow horizontally; pruning this viburnum to remain narrow ruins its graceful form. The flowers sit on top of the branches, right below the leaves, giving a multi-tiered, layered affect. If you need something narrower, choose a skinnier shrub, or one that can take pruning to keep it in bounds.
Now if you will excuse me, I must go hunt for the perfect specimen at my favorite local nurseries. After all, fall is the best time to plant most floras in the Pacific Northwest!
Gardening for the Homebrewer: Grow and Process Plants for Making Beer, Wine, Gruit, Cider, Perry, and More
By co-authors Debbie Teashon (Rainy Side Gardeners) and Wendy Tweton
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