Viburnums are deciduous shrubs or trees native to North America. They are often called winterberry because they bloom during the coldest months of the year.
Viburnum is a plant genus in the family Adoxaecae. There are around 150 different species of viburnum, and they are all evergreen shrubs that thrive in full sun.
They like to grow in USDA zones 4 through 9, which means they make great landscape plants for temperate climates.
Each species of Viburnum have its own unique characteristics. The most common types include Japanese snowball (Viburnum plicatum), American snowball (Viburnum opulus), and autumn snowflake (Viburnum cassinoides).
Viburnum bushes are great for hedges, specimens, and borders. Their horizontal branches make them easy to plant in containers, patios, or decks, and they’re also great for smaller gardens.
Viburnums come in a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes, and some are even edible. Carry on reading to learn more about these beautiful plants!
What Do Viburnum Flowers Look Like?
Viburnum Flowers
Viburnum flowers have different shapes, depending upon the species. They are made up of clusters or panicles of smaller flowers. The flower buds are cone-shaped, spherical, or dome-shaped.
When viburnum bushes bloom in spring, they become colorful. Pictures of viburnum flowers look similar to hydrangea flowers because both are in the same plant family.
Viburnums are shrubs that grow in winter. Their flowers are usually white or pink. Some species are called snowball bushes because they produce large balls of snowballs when they blossom. Laurustine is a shrub with white flowers in flat-topped clusters.
Viburnum Leaves
Autumn foliage Viburnum comes in many shapes and sizes. Some species have shiny green ovate leaves with serrated edges, while other species have leaves like maple leaves,
and some have glossy green leathery ovate leaves. Sweet viburnum has shiny green leathery oval leaves, but it’s not an autumn leaf.
Species Of Viburnum Shrubs
Arrowwood Viburnum
Arrowwood viburnum grows in a variety of soils and environments. It is a medium-sized plant that grows in a rounded shape.
The flowers are white or pale pink, and it prefers to grow in temperate climates – particularly in the southern United States, where the hardiness zones are 2-8.
This plant needs full sun and medium moisture soil. It grows up to 10 feet tall and spreads about 6 feet wide.
Doublefile Viburnums
Doublefile viburnum is a beautiful shrub that grows well in full sun or partial shade. It has double-file leaves that grow opposite each other along the branches. The flowers are bright white and bloom in spring.
These plants have long green stems that curve around and hold up the fan-shaped leaves. They are very hardy plants that grow well in full sun to part shade. They require regular watering during dry periods.
Burkwood Viburnum
Burkwood viburnum is a beautiful flowering shrub. It blooms in spring and summer. Its leaves are dark green in the growing season, and it can produce either pink or white blooms. It also produces berries!
This shrub species is durable, and can even survive in pollution areas. At their full maturity, they can reach a height of 10 feet.
Overall, Burkwood Viburnum is a great choice if you’re looking for mid-size deciduous flowering shrubs.
David Viburnum
David viburnum is a hardy plant that can grow in many environments. It can be either evergreen or deciduous. It has blue-green leaves throughout most of the year, but these leaves often fall off during the winter months.
The blooms are very small and white – it would be difficult to notice them if you weren’t looking for them!
David viburnum is a very small plant. It grows in a round shape and usually reaches about three feet tall. It doesn’t grow well in colder areas. It has been known to cause leaf scorch.
Koreanspice Viburnum
Koreanspice viburnums are bushy shrubs native to Korea and Japan. Their leaves are broad and have a dull green color. In autumn, the leaves turn a reddish-brown color.
It grows small clusters of white flowers that, interestingly, are also surrounded by pink buds and black fruits.
Koreanspice viburnums are easy to grow and require minimal care. This plant should be planted in a sunny location. Pruning is recommended when plants are dormant.
Korean Spicebush is an attractive shrub that grows slowly. Its mature height is about 6 feet. Its attractive features include its upright rounded growth and dense foliage.
Korean Spicebush grows well as a specimen plant, hedge, foundation planting, and perennial border.
Mapleleaf Viburnum
Mapleleaf viburnums are very similar to maple trees. Both species grow in the same areas and have similar colors. Their leaves turn brown in the winter and then drop off.
Maple leaf viburnum is a deciduous plant that grows in the United States, particularly in areas with hillsides and ravines. It has a loose, spreading growth pattern, and it spreads by suckers.
It has small white flowers that appear at the end of long stalks. When these flowers bloom, they turn into fruit. These fruits appear as a series of small berries. These persist from summer until winter.
Mapleleaf viburnum is a small shrub that grows between 4 and 6 feet (1.2 – 1.8 m) tall. It has oval-shaped leaves with three lobes and hairy edges. It looks like a maple leaf. Viburnum leaves are pale green with serrated edges.
Cranberrybush Viburnum
This name is deceiving because it doesn’t actually produce cranberries.
Cranberrybush is a large shrub that grows up to 13 feet tall. It has a round shape and edible berries that look like cranberries. These berries do actually taste very similar to cranberries too!
The blooms that appear from this Viburnum are small and white and are produced in corymbs which can grow up to 5 inches in size.
Small-Leaf Arrowwood Viburnum
Small-leaf viburnum is a medium-sized shrub. It grows up to 18 feet tall, but the leaves are very small in comparison.
The leaves of this plant are oval-shaped and sometimes have serrations. Its flowers are usually bright white or yellowish.
Small-leaf Viburnums are shrubs or small trees that grow to about 12 feet tall. They are hardy in USDA Zones 6-9.
Their leaves turn a deep purple color when they drop off in autumn. They prefer full sun to part shade. They need acidic soil but do well in moist soils.
This plant is not an invasive species. It grows naturally in the US, but it does not compete well with other plants. It has a high tolerance for alkaline soils.
Wayfaring Tree
This plant has large leaves that are green with a bluing tint. The leaves have regular serrations and reticulated venation.
Wayfaring tree viburnums have clusters of white flowers that turn into red fruits. The flowers have bright yellow stamens and a limited fragrance. This is a great flowering shrub option.
Blackhaw Viburnum
Blackhaw viburnum grows up to 15 feet tall. It is hardy in zones 3-9. It needs full sun to part shade. It prefers acidic soil but tolerates alkaline soil, and it requires medium moisture.
Blackhaw viburnum flowers in spring and summer, and it produces white flowers before the yellow fruits appear, and they like to grow in woods and streams.
This is a versatile plant to use in your garden. You can grow it in groups or as a single specimen. It needs full sun and well-drained soil.
The dense foliage turns very striking in the fall, and it has a wide spread of 12 feet. This plant can be grown as a large shrub or hedge.
Withe Rod
Withe rod viburnums are deciduous shrubs that grow in wet soil. They have many names depending on how you say them. Some people call them Swamp viburnums or Flexible viburnums.
Withe rod viburnum is a shrub or small tree native to eastern North America. It grows up to 15 feet tall and has oval-shaped leaves. In fall, the leaves turn red.
Withe rod viburnums are hardy plants that grow well in full sun or partial shade. They are easy to care for and require very little maintenance.
The withe rod is not as popular as some other viburnum species, but it is a great choice for borders and mass plantations.
Japanese Snowball Viburnum
The Japanese Snowball Viburnums are plants that grow into large shrubs. They have drooping flowers and top-facing flower clusters.
They are very beautiful and tend to stay within 8 feet tall, although some of this variety has been known to grow to 15 feet. They thrive in cold and warm areas alike, as long as they’re exposed to enough sunlight.
This viburnum is a very popular shrub for gardens. It gets a reddish tone in autumn and produces beautiful red fruits. Japanese viburnum is a great choice because it is a compact shrub with a rounded shape.
This plant is hardy and can be used as a hedge or screen. The leaves are dark green and smooth, and the blooms are bright white.
December Dwarf Viburnum
The December Dwarf viburnums are great for small spaces. They’re easy to care for, require minimal maintenance, and their compact size makes them ideal for smaller yards.
These plants have lots of interesting features including spring blooms, colorful foliage, berries, and more. They actually also bloom their pink flowers in the winter, and their foliage lasts from spring to fall.
Leatherleaf Viburnum
Leatherleaf viburnums grow well in any soil. They create flat cymes of cream-colored flowers in the spring, and they produce berries in the early fall when temperatures begin to drop. They’re either evergreen or deciduous, depending on the climate.
The huge leaves can grow up to 8 inches long, and they have dark blue surfaces that stand out well. Overall, this plant can grow up to 15 feet in height.
It likes acidic soils, and it blooms best when it has lots of access to sunlight.
Viburnum ‘Cascade’
This plant is a particularly large shrub in the Viburnum family, and it has stunning heart-shaped leaves that turn red in fall. Its white blooms form in small clusters, and the ‘Cascade’ also produces little red, oval-shaped fruits.
It can take up to 20 years for this plant to reach full maturity, and it can grow up to 13 feet in height. As long as it has well-drained soil, the Viburnum ‘Cascade’ will thrive!
Nannyberry Viburnum
This is a large shrub that produces a particularly amazing set of fruit each year.
Nannyberries are a type of fruit that you can eat right off the bush. In some parts of the world, people use nannyberries as jam. They also make jelly.
It’s a drought-tolerant plant that grows well in average soil. When the flowers drop, berries form. These berries turn black when ripe.
This plant can grow up to 20 feet tall, and it can even be grown as a tree (which means it reaches heights of 30 feet).
The Nannyberry flowers are white or pinkish-white and bloom in spring. While these blooms don’t have any scent, they are still very attractive for all types of pollinators, including bees and butterflies.
Viburnum ‘Compactum’
This medium-sized plant produces bright red berries that last into winter. It is a deciduous species which means that it loses its purple leaves in the fall.
However, it gets its lovely white blooms in the early summer, so it keeps its foliage for quite some time.
The ‘Compactum’ grows up to 4 feet tall on average, and it takes between ten and twenty years to reach this point.
Viburnum ‘Mohawk’
This compact shrub has a huge amount of green foliage, which has a white felt underneath the leaves. Interestingly, the blooms start off as red buds, which then become bright white flowers.
This species takes less time than other Viburnum varieties to reach maturity as it takes a maximum of 10 years to fully grow. The ‘Mohawk’ needs well-drained soil to thrive, and it keeps its foliage all throughout the year!
Laurustinus Viburnum
Laurustinus viburnum is an evergreen shrub with glossy dark green foliage, a light fragrance, and pink-white flowers blooming in the winter. It grows specifically in the Mediterranean, and it thrives in warm climates.
This plant grows best in full sun, and it needs lots of water, as well as well-drained soil.
Viburnum ‘Winton’
This is a deciduous shrub that can grow up to 15 feet tall. It has oval leaves that open up in spring, and they develop into a rich copper color in the fall time.
Finally, they become yellowish-brown in winter. The flowers appear in the summer, and its sweet fruit ripens in late autumn.
Sweet Viburnum
Sweet Viburnums are plants that smell amazing when they’re in bloom. They also make great hedges because they’re easy to grow and maintain, and they’re big enough to block out light and provide privacy.
Their leaves are glossy and green, and these leaves grow up to six inches (15 cm) long and wide.
The sweet viburnum is a type of viburnum that produces small white blooms that form in large clusters. These plants prefer warm weather, and they especially thrive when they are growing in coastal areas.
Sandankwa Viburnum
Sandankwa viburnums are beautiful flowering plants that make great hedges. They’re evergreens and have pinkish-white flowers in the fall.
Their leaves are rough and leather-like. Sandankwa viburnum is native to tropical areas of North America.
Sandankwa viburnums are known for growing quickly. They are particularly hardy to cold temperatures, and they much prefer to grow in partial shade rather than full sunlight. Their average height is 8 feet.
Viburnum Awakbuki ‘Chindo’
Chindo viburnum has evergreen foliage and grows quickly. It has a waxy feel to its leaves. Its flowers bloom in spring, and the flowering occurs in small clusters or panicles.
Chindos are shrubs that grow about 10-12 feet high. Their dense crowns form a pyramid shape. Viburnums require little care to maintain their shape.
Because of the natural growing shape that it forms, it is an excellent choice for a garden hedge. This plant needs little maintenance and thrives in dry conditions.
Tubeflower Viburnum
Tubeflower viburnums are very pretty plants. They are an evergreen species, and the shrubs create dark green or brown leaves.
They are more likely to grow wide rather than tall, and the leaves actually land in a long, drooping manner. This makes them very useful for decoration purposes!
The Tubeflower blooms fairly late into the summer, and it produces incredibly fragrant scents as it does so. The colors of the blooms are a mixture of white and lilac.
To Sum Up
Viburnum is a hardy native species. There are many types of viburnum to choose from. You can find them in many areas around the world,
and because the species have adjusted to different climates, some of these viburnums bloom in spring while others bloom in fall.
You can grow them viburnum plants indoors or outdoors. They’re easy to care for and require very little maintenance.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Do I Need To Know Before Planting Viburnum?
You should know that the viburnum needs good drainage and lots of sunlight. They also need a lot of space to grow. If you don’t have enough room, then consider using a container instead.
How Do I Take Care Of My Viburnum?
You will want to prune your viburnum regularly so that it doesn’t get too big. Pruning helps keep your viburnum healthy and prevents it from getting out of control.
You should cut back any branches that are touching the ground. Also, remove dead or diseased parts.
Do I Need To Fertilize My Viburnum?
You shouldn’t fertilize your viburnum unless it starts showing signs of disease. Fertilizing can cause problems such as leaf burn, stunted growth, and poor flowering.
The majority of people who have no interest in the subject, and aren’t green fingered assume that all plants and vegetables require the same growing conditions. This is not the case at all. Each plant has its own unique and interesting history and growing process.
I hope you will find The Natural List useful, and that it will help educate you on the wide variety of different flower and plant species there are across the globe.
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