May Flowering DoubleFile Viburnum - Tomentosum

The month of May is filled with beautiful flowering shrubs and trees and if you had to pick just one plant to add to your garden this year, it would be a difficult choice for most of us to make. I want to make a suggestion of a plant for you to consider if you're making such a choice. The plant that I know you will love to add to your garden is called the Doublefile Viburnum, and for just one reason, because every year it will get more beautiful! This Viburnum, when young, has no real appeal, no pizzazz, but in just a couple of years in your garden it will quickly become your favorite. This plant has it all, and in just a couple of years in your garden, you will see flowers, fruit, fall color, and growth characteristics most plants would die for. There is only one word for this plant, "WOW!"

As the Doublefile Viburnum makes its new growth in the spring, the new branches that form will grow horizontally, and they are graceful because when the wind blows in your yard they will move like waves on the water. The plant will make foliage and flowers at the same time during May. The foliage is beautiful. Each leaf will grow from 3 to 5 inches long; they are shiny and clean looking, the shine on the leaf will last from spring to fall. The shape is oval, 2 inches wide near the stem but narrows to a point on the end, and along the edge of the leaf is a row of small teeth. The leaf is covered with a unique network of sunken veins, like stitchery. In the fall these leaves will gradually change from the deep green summer color, to rich red wine colored foliage that the plant will retain for several weeks. When the color changes occur to the foliage, the sunken veins become even more pronounced and the leaf seems to almost glow.

The flowers form on 2 inch stems placing them above the new foliage, like a pedestal. The flowers that form are unique because this flower cluster has two types of flowers in the cluster: a small fruit-bearing and a large sterile type of bloom. The inside of the cluster is filled with 25 or more fertile small, 1/4 inch, white, 5 petal flowers, and not showy. But around this flower cluster are 5 or more sterile, large, 1 inch, very showy, 4 petal white flowers. The flowers combine to make a wonderful 4 to 5 inch in diameter flat flower that will cover the entire stem of the plant from the main stems to the tip of every branch. The flowers will last on the plant for 4 to six weeks depending on the temperature and frequency of heavy rains. Bees and butterflies seem to flicker from flower to flower like in a dance around the Maypole. There are so many flowers on the branches they will bend with their weight and the lower branches will touch the ground. If you're able to enjoy a full moon night outside in your garden the plant will almost glow from the light the moon sends into your garden.

The fruit, "O the fruit," that this plant makes is wonderful to look at on the plant. You know those wonderful small fertile white flowers in the center of the flower cluster you enjoyed in May to early June have now become shiny, 1/4 inch, oval, bright red fruit. Each fruit cluster is 3 inches in diameter and the 25 or more fruit in the cluster lie flat on their stems above the foliage. The rich shiny green foliage below makes the fruit stand out just as wonderfully as the flowers did on the plant earlier in the season. The fruit ripens in July to early August and then without a notice turns bright shiny black in late August telling the birds that supper has been served. All of a sudden, all the berries are gone and the plant can now prepare for the fall by making flower buds for next spring and slowly change the foliage to the rich red wine color.

Doublefile Viburnum loves a soil that is moist, rich, and fertile; if planted in a dry, sandy soil it will not perform very well for you. Condition the soil before planting with lots of compost or seasoned animal manure. I always add Soil Moist granules when planting new shrubs to insure the roots stay moist as the new roots develop in your garden. Bio-Tone with Mycorrhiza has shown me how wonderfully Mother Nature's microbes work in the soil and I will never plant anything again without using this product. Your Garden Center should have either Protilizer by Natural Alternatives or Bio-Tone with Mycorrhizae available; use it and see the difference in the growth your plant will make.

Water the plant weekly or more often during warm weather to motivate plant growth. Fertilize in the spring with Plant-Tone to encourage good growth during the summer months. Place 2 to 3 inches of bark mulch or compost around the plant to control weeds around the plant and to help hold water in the soil during the summer months. Lots of moisture around the roots will result with more, bigger, and brighter fruit during the summer months on the plant.

Doublefile Viburnum will grow in full sun to partial shade in your garden. The flowers and berries will do as well in either growing locations. Just make sure the location you choose is well drained and has no standing water, especially during the winter. Give the plant room to grow as this plant needs room display the flowers and berries during the year. This plant will grow 8 to 10 feet tall and will spread its beautiful branches 10 to 12 feet wide. You can prune the lower branches on the plant as it matures and create a small tree-like plant with multiple stems.

This Viburnum will make a great plant to grow under tall trees that had the lower branches pruned out to let daylight in under them as an understory plant. If you want to create a tall growing privacy hedge along your property line or cut back the traffic noise from your patio during the summer this is your plant, space plant 10 feet apart. You can also use it as a vocal point or specimen plant in your yard or large planting of mixed plants like Rhododendrons, Azaleas, and Mountain Laurels. If you have a Japanese Garden this plant will make a great specimen flowering plant near a pond or small stream. Plant this Viburnum on the side of a hill to prevent erosion and to create a background of color all summer long with its beautiful flowers and berries. If you have bird houses or bird feeders this plant will ensure that the birds stay from season to season and because of its dense foliage and horizontal branching it also makes a great plant for the birds to build nest in.

The flower closely resembles the flower of the climbing hydrangea; many people think that this plant belongs to the hydrangea family but it does not. And best of all, no insect or disease problems with this plant and once established, it needs little to no maintenance. Look for it at your local nursery; you will not regret purchasing this wonderful shrub, the Doublefile Viburnum. Enjoy!