Trees & Shrubs / Viburnum (Tea Viburnum)

Tea Viburnum

Viburnum setigerum
Category: Trees & Shrubs None
Subcategory: Viburnum (Tea Viburnum)

Viburnum setigerum, commonly called Tea Viburnum, is the perfect plant to add interest to your fall garden. The foliage, which is a soft blue-green in the summer, will turn shades of orange, red and maroon in the autumn. In May, white 2 inch flat-topped flower clusters will appear. These flowers are beautiful, but it is not until September-October that the Tea Viburnum really shines. This is when the persistent, glossy, fire engine red fruit clusters are borne, making it the best and most well-known Viburnum for a showy fruit display. This brilliant display continues into winter until the berries are devoured by the birds. The weight of the fruits often cause the multi-stemmed branches to arch over part way, drawing even more attention to this striking deciduous shrub. Unlike many Viburnums which give their best fruiting display where summers are cool and winters are cold, Tea Viburnum fruits well even where summers are hot and winters are warm. Incidentally, Tea Viburnum derives its name from the belief that Chinese monks used its leaves to brew tea.

Tea Viburnum is highly adaptable to a variety of growing conditions making it extremely easy to grow. It will grow best in average well-drained soil in full sun to part shade. Expect your Viburnum to grow in an upright vase-shaped habit 8-12 feet tall and 6-9 feet wide. If pruning is necessary, this can be done in very early spring as it flowers on new growth. Viburnum setigerum is particularly effective when planted in mass plantings or in groups as a shrub border, informal hedge or as a screen. As most of the fruit display is on the top two-thirds of the shrub, we often dress down Tea Viburnum plantings, especially individual specimens, with low evergreens.

Tea Viburnum  Planting and Care

• Hardy in Zones 5-7 into the colder portions of Zone 8.
• For best results plant in fall or spring.
• Prefers full sun to part shade.
• Plant 8 feet apart in any moist, but well-drained, soil.
• Fertilize in early spring and late fall.

Hardiness Zones: 5,6,7,8
Sun Shade Preferences: Partial Sun,Partial Shade,Full Sun
Height: 120"