Koreanspice viburnum
Viburnum carlesii · Viburnaceae
Red buds open pink and fade to white in domed clusters with one of the best scents of any shrub, a mix of clove and sweetness. The leaves turn dull red in autumn.
- Size
- 5 ft tall, 5 ft wide
- Zones
- 4 to 7
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Late April to early May
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Anchor
A bed built around Koreanspice viburnum
The planner designed this bed around Koreanspice viburnum when this page was made: a 16 × 8 ft (4.9 × 2.4 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why Koreanspice viburnum stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Koreanspice viburnum × 1, white
- 2 Verbena 'Homestead Purple' × 5, purple
- 3 Cheddar pinks 'Firewitch' × 19, pink
- 4 Tatarian aster 'Jindai' × 4, purple
- 5 Foxglove beardtongue × 5, white
- 6 Little bluestem × 3, blue-green leaves
- 7 Anise hyssop × 3, lavender
- 8 Hardy gladiolus × 5, pink
- 9 Schubert's allium × 3, pink
- 10 Daffodil × 7, yellow
Why this plant
- A classic partner for daffodil. Both are on this plan. A pairing gardeners have proved outranks a general rule.
- Part of the bed's structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down. So does little bluestem.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 5 ft it is the tallest plant here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to Tatarian aster 'Jindai' (4 ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- One plant, alone. A shrub is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- In flower for three weeks. From late April to early May.
- In company. With daffodil in late April: 2 kinds at once.
Planned as an English border: 9 of the 9 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Cheddar pinks 'Firewitch' repeats along the bed to tie it together. Low plants run along 95% of the front edge: Cheddar pinks 'Firewitch' and verbena 'Homestead Purple'.
The planner's own design check: 12 Excellent, 5 Good. 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 Koreanspice viburnum goes in a border
At 5 ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is tall (4 to 5 ft).
Its job: anchor. A shrub that gives the bed permanent structure. Planted singly, as soon as the front edge is laid; everything else is arranged around it.
Plant it where you walk past every day in April. It is slow and tidy and rarely needs pruning.
- Fragrance beside a door or path
- A compact shrub for small gardens
- Spring colour
What to plant with Koreanspice viburnum
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Daffodil: in flower together for three weeks, from late April; low enough (16 in) to stand in front of it.
- Tulip: in flower together for three weeks, from late April; low enough (18 in) to stand in front of it.
- Grape hyacinth: in flower together for three weeks, from late April; spires rising out of its mound; low enough (6 in) to stand in front of it.
Questions about Koreanspice viburnum
Does Koreanspice viburnum need sun or shade?
Koreanspice viburnum 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 Koreanspice viburnum grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 7. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Above zone 7 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 Koreanspice viburnum flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late April to early May. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 4 | Early May to mid May |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Late April to early May |
| Zone 6 | Mid April to early May |
| Zone 7 | Mid April to late April |
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 Koreanspice viburnum be planted?
4 ft (120 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 5 ft (150 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 5 ft (150 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many Koreanspice viburnum plants do I need?
Usually one. At 4 ft (120 cm) across, it is a plant you place, not one you mass. For a hedge or screen, set them 4 ft apart: three plants for a 10 ft run.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is Koreanspice viburnum 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 Koreanspice viburnum?
Koreanspice viburnum comes from Korea, Japan. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Black chokeberry: the same job in a bed, the same size and the same colour; flowers early May to late May.
- Ninebark 'Dart's Gold': the same job in a bed, the same size and the same colour; flowers late May to late June.
- Arrowwood viburnum 'Blue Muffin': the same job in a bed and the same colour; 12 in taller, flowers late May to mid June.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
Do deer eat Koreanspice viburnum?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What flowers after Koreanspice viburnum?
Koreanspice viburnum is over by early May. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Blue false indigo: from late May to mid June, 4 ft tall.
- Foxglove: from early June to mid July, 4 ft tall.
- Lupine: from late May to early July, 3½ ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does Koreanspice viburnum look like in winter?
Koreanspice viburnum drops its leaves and stands as bare branches. That is when to see its shape, and to prune it if it needs pruning.
Is Koreanspice viburnum good for bees and butterflies?
Koreanspice viburnum is visited by songbirds.
More Viburnum
- American cranberrybush Viburnum trilobum
- Arrowwood viburnum Viburnum dentatum
- Arrowwood viburnum 'Blue Muffin' Viburnum dentatum 'Christom' (Blue Muffin)
- Bodnant viburnum 'Dawn' Viburnum x bodnantense 'Dawn'
- Burkwood viburnum Viburnum x burkwoodii
- David viburnum Viburnum davidii
- Doublefile viburnum Viburnum plicatum f. tomentosum
- Doublefile viburnum 'Mariesii' Viburnum plicatum f. tomentosum 'Mariesii'
- Judd viburnum Viburnum x juddii
- Laurustinus Viburnum tinus
- Mapleleaf viburnum Viburnum acerifolium
- Viburnum 'Summer Snowflake' Viburnum plicatum f. tomentosum 'Summer Snowflake'
- Witherod viburnum 'Winterthur' Viburnum nudum 'Winterthur'
In these guides
- Plants that grow near black walnut
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Plants that feed garden birds
- Plants for a white garden
- Plants with purple and burgundy leaves
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 5 ft (150 cm) tall, 5 ft (150 cm) wide
- Plant
- 4 ft (120 cm) apart
- Height class
- Tall (4 to 5 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Late April to early May; dense clusters; white
- Leaves
- Medium texture, deciduous; green, red
- Shape
- Rounded, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 7
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Viburnaceae
- Comes from
- Korea, Japan
- Attracts
- Songbirds
- Stands up to
- Deer, black walnut
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.