If you are wondering what to buy as a holiday gift for a gardening friend, you can order a shrub now to be delivered next spring.
There is a wonderful, scented viburnum that I have in my garden. It is Viburnum carlesii that can grow 4-8 feet tall over time, but it can be pruned back after it has bloomed to keep it shorter. The common name is Korean Spice, and it produces 3-onch scented blossoms in clusters in late April. In the fall the foliage can turn red, and it likes well drained soil in full sun or part shade. For maximum effect place it by a path or entrance and prune it each year after it blooms to keep it the size that you prefer.
Cut the blossom clusters and hammer the woody stems before putting them in a vase indoors. The flower clusters are pinkish and then open white.
Another fragrant viburnum that is similar is Viburnum ‘Aurora’, which has larger 5-inch blossoms in clusters that open pinkish white. Also, Viburnum juddii is a rounded shrub which grows 6-8 feet tall with bright orange/red leaves in the fall.
In our hot summers, most viburnums enjoy some light shade from nearby trees, and remember never to prune flowering shrubs until after they bloom.
This is Moya Andrews and today we focused on perfumed gifts.
