Deutzia 'Yuki Cherry Blossom'
Deutzia 'NCDX2' (Yuki Cherry Blossom) · Hydrangeaceae
A low, tidy mound smothered in late spring with clusters of small, starry, soft pink flowers, with burgundy-purple leaves in autumn.
- Size
- 20 in tall, 24 in wide
- Zones
- 5 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Early May to early June
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around deutzia 'Yuki Cherry Blossom'
The planner designed this bed around deutzia 'Yuki Cherry Blossom' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why deutzia 'Yuki Cherry Blossom' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Deutzia 'Yuki Cherry Blossom' × 3, pink
- 2 Sea thrift × 8, white
- 3 Blanket flower 'Arizona Sun' × 6, red
- 4 Little bluestem 'Standing Ovation' × 3, tan
- 5 Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' × 3, blue
- 6 Silver sage × 1, silver leaves
- 7 Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' × 4, purple
- 8 Triteleia 'Queen Fabiola' × 12, blue
Why this plant
- The only bells. The others are globes, daisies, plumes and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only pink.
- Part of the bed's structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down. So does little bluestem 'Standing Ovation'.
Why here
- At the back. At 20 in it is seen over silver sage (12 in) in front of it, and has nothing behind it to hide.
- A step in the back row. Next to little bluestem 'Standing Ovation' (3½ ft) and Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' (4 ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 3 plants in one group. Massed, one kind reads as a single shape. Scattered, it would look spotty.
Why now
- In flower for five weeks. From early May to early June.
- Part of the bed's peak. With sea thrift, Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' and ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' in late May: 4 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as an English border: 6 of the 6 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The most in flower at one time is 4 kinds, from late May. For contrast, the bold leaves of silver sage sit beside the fine leaves of deutzia 'Yuki Cherry Blossom'.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 5 Good, 1 Satisfactory. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where deutzia 'Yuki Cherry Blossom' goes in a border
At 20 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium short (18 to 24 in).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
The first pink dwarf deutzia. It is small enough to mass as a groundcover on a slope or to edge a shrub border, and needs no pruning.
- Massing on a slope
- The front of a shrub border
- Low-care planting
What to plant with deutzia 'Yuki Cherry Blossom'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Catmint 'Walker's Low': in flower together for four weeks, from mid May; spires rising out of its mound.
- Daylily: takes over when it finishes, flowering from late June.
- Dwarf fountain grass 'Hameln': carries the spot on into mid September.
Questions about deutzia 'Yuki Cherry Blossom'
Does deutzia 'Yuki Cherry Blossom' need sun or shade?
Deutzia 'Yuki Cherry Blossom' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day) and part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does deutzia 'Yuki Cherry Blossom' grow in?
USDA zones 5 to 8. It is hardy to zone 5, which means it survives winter nights down to about −10 °F (−23 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does deutzia 'Yuki Cherry Blossom' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers early May to early June. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 5 | Early May to early June |
|---|---|
| Zone 6 | Early May to early June |
| Zone 7 | Late April to late May |
| Zone 8 | Mid April to late May |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should deutzia 'Yuki Cherry Blossom' be planted?
20 in (50 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 24 in (60 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 20 in (50 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many deutzia 'Yuki Cherry Blossom' plants do I need?
At 20 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 4 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 7 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 14 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used three in one group.
Is deutzia 'Yuki Cherry Blossom' poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Is there a native plant like deutzia 'Yuki Cherry Blossom'?
Deutzia 'Yuki Cherry Blossom' is not native to North America. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Bog rosemary 'Blue Ice': the same job in a bed, the same flowering time and the same colour; 4 in shorter, keeps its leaves in winter.
- Eastern bee balm: the same job in a bed, the same size, the same flowering time and the same colour; belongs in the middle, not at the front, medium leaves, not fine.
- Iceland poppy: the same job in a bed and the same colour; 4 in shorter, 10 in narrower.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What flowers after deutzia 'Yuki Cherry Blossom'?
Deutzia 'Yuki Cherry Blossom' is over by early June. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Daylily: from late June to early August, 2½ ft tall (a recorded partner).
- Lady's mantle: from late May to early July, 18 in tall.
- Butterfly weed: from late June to early August, 24 in tall.
What does deutzia 'Yuki Cherry Blossom' look like in winter?
Deutzia 'Yuki Cherry Blossom' drops its leaves and stands as bare branches. That is when to see its shape, and to prune it if it needs pruning.
More Deutzia
- Deutzia 'Chardonnay Pearls' Deutzia gracilis 'Duncan' (Chardonnay Pearls)
- Slender deutzia 'Nikko' Deutzia gracilis 'Nikko'
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 20 in (50 cm) tall, 24 in (60 cm) wide
- Plant
- 20 in (50 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium short (18 to 24 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Early May to early June; hanging bells; pink
- Leaves
- Fine texture, deciduous; green
- Shape
- Mounding, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 5 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Hydrangeaceae
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.