Geographical origins: China, Japan.
Adult size: Height up to 2m, spread up to 1.5m.
Foliage: Deciduous
Type of soil: Cool, moist and rich
Climate: Hardy to -30°C
Site: Partial shade, mid-day sun rays could scorch its foliage.
Characteristics and uses:
The Japanese Snowball bush is a shrub which has a horizontally spreading, graphic shape. It blossoms from the end of April to the end of August and adorns clusters of white flowers. In the autumn, its foliage will take on superb purplish-red tints. Easy to grow, it is better not to prune it so as to keep its silhouette. It is the perfect shrub to brighten up a shady pot or to grow in a flowering hedge or a flowering bed. It can also be grown in a Japanese-styled garden combined with Japanese Maples, Azaleas and a Giant Dogwood...
The different varieties:
Viburnum plicatum 'Kilimanjaro' (Japanese Snowball bush): Pyramidal-shaped shrub which has abundant blossom and evokes the silhouette of the Mount Kilimanjaro.
Viburnum plicatum 'Summer Snowflake': Shrub with a dense, erect shape with branches forming regular levels. Its abundant blossom starts in the spring and continues throughout the entire summer.
Viburnum plicatum 'Watanabei' (Doublefile Viburnum): Shrub with a compact shape, branches forming regular levels and abundant blossom.