Arrowwood Viburnum

Plant type: deciduous shrub
Hardiness: USDA Zones 3 to 8

A native shrub grown for its creamy white blooms and dark green leaves, arrowwood viburnum is a tough, durable and adaptable landscape plant. The large, coarsely toothed leaves are usually glossy and make a handsome backdrop for the flat-topped, four-inch-wide clusters of tiny white flowers that appear from late spring to early summer. The flowers are followed by blue-black fruit that attracts birds, and bird-sown plants may appear in other parts of the garden. In fall, the leaves turn yellow, red, or purple-red.

Arrowwood viburnum ranges from six to as much as 10 or 15 feet tall and wide. Established plants have a rounded to somewhat vase-shaped habit and produce dense clumps of straight to arching branches that were once harvested by native Americans to use as shafts for arrows. Arrowwood viburnum spreads by suckers and will form good-size clumps with time.

Cultivation: Give arrowwood viburnum a site in full sun or partial shade. Plants thrive in most well-drained soils and will grow in a wide variety of soils. They need minimal pruning: Remove old or dead branches by cutting them back to the base of the clump in late winter or early spring to make room for healthier new shoots. Immediately after flowering, clip back stems that stick out and spoil the overall symmetry of the plant.

How to use it: Use arrowwood in mass plantings to create screen or hedge plantings.