Sunday, April 18, 2010

Snowballs in April

I have waited patiently for my Chinese snowball viburnum (viburnum macrocephalum) shrub to bloom. I planted it three years ago, moved it once and have never had enough of a bloom on it to do what I have been waiting for - use the flowers in arrangements. The blooms start out this lovely shade of chartreuse that looks very fresh and pretty when mixed with just about any other color. Eventually they turn a pretty white. They are quite pricey at the florist so the best thing is to plant them yourself and wait until they gain some size. It is deciduous and should eventually get quite large, but because it will not get as much water as it prefers in our climate, it will never get as big as it would in the optimum setting, which can be 20 feet high (the biggest one I have ever seen in our area is about six feet high). I will get about eight cut blooms this year but I am hoping the little shrub will finally take off!

2 comments:

Kathleen said...

I'd love to have some of those for indoor arrangements too Sheila. I hope this year is the take-off point for you!! It's a beautiful shrub.

Jackie said...

I have one of these, too! I'm afraid I didn't water the little guy enough because it didn't grow much last year. But maybe this year will be better.

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