Mapleleaf viburnum
Viburnum acerifolium · Viburnaceae
A small native viburnum with maple-shaped leaves, flat white flower heads and black berries. Its autumn colour is unlike any other shrub: rose, pink and purple.
- Size
- 5 ft tall, 4 ft wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Part sun to shade
- Flowers
- Late May to mid June
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Anchor
A bed built around mapleleaf viburnum
The planner designed this bed around mapleleaf viburnum when this page was made: a 16 × 8 ft (4.9 × 2.4 m) English border in zone 6, part shade. It chose the other plants from the 513 that suit those conditions, and says below why mapleleaf viburnum stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Mapleleaf viburnum × 1, white
- 2 Moor grass 'Greenlee' × 5, tan
- 3 Lungwort × 7, blue
- 4 Tall astilbe 'Superba' × 4, purple
- 5 White snakeroot × 3, white
- 6 Christmas fern × 3, dark green leaves
- 7 Blue-stemmed goldenrod × 8, yellow
- 8 Giant snowdrop × 12, white
- 9 Winter cyclamen × 12, pink
- 10 Winter aconite × 12, yellow
Why this plant
- The only flat plates. The others are spires, dense clusters, plumes and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- A classic partner for Christmas fern. 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 moor grass 'Greenlee'.
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 tall astilbe 'Superba' (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 four weeks. From late May to mid June.
- In company. With moor grass 'Greenlee' in late May: 2 kinds at once.
Planned as an English border: 7 of the 7 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Christmas fern stands beside white snakeroot, a proven pairing. The flowers run from early February to mid October: 35 weeks in all.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 4 Good, 2 Satisfactory. It flags one thing to watch: White snakeroot is highly poisonous to people and horses. Winter aconite is highly poisonous to people, dogs, cats and horses.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where mapleleaf 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.
One of the few shrubs for dry shade, and the pink autumn colour glows in dim light. It suckers slowly into a loose colony.
- Dry shade under trees
- Native woodland gardens
- Unusual autumn colour
What to plant with mapleleaf viburnum
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Christmas fern: its dark green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; low enough (20 in) to stand in front of it.
- White wood aster: carries the spot on into early October; low enough (24 in) to stand in front of it.
- Solomon's seal: in flower together for two weeks, from late May; low enough (3 ft) to stand in front of it.
Questions about mapleleaf viburnum
Does mapleleaf viburnum need sun or shade?
Mapleleaf viburnum grows in part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun), part shade (2 to 4 hours of sun, mostly in the morning) and shade (less than 2 hours of direct sun, or bright dappled light).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and little watering once settled.
What zones does mapleleaf viburnum grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 8. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °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 mapleleaf viburnum flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late May to mid June. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 4 | Late May to late June |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Late May to mid June |
| Zone 6 | Mid May to mid June |
| Zone 7 | Early May to early June |
| Zone 8 | Early May to early June |
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 mapleleaf viburnum be planted?
3½ ft (100 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 4 ft (120 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 mapleleaf viburnum plants do I need?
At 3½ ft apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 1 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 4 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 3 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as one, planted singly: it is the bed's structure, and everything else is arranged around it.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is mapleleaf 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.
Do deer eat mapleleaf 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.
Will mapleleaf viburnum spread?
It spreads sideways, by runners or roots; the risk of it taking over is moderate. Spreads by suckers into a wider clump. Remove the outer shoots to contain it.
What flowers after mapleleaf viburnum?
Mapleleaf viburnum is over by mid June. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Foxglove: from early June to mid July, 4 ft tall.
- Bee balm: from early July to early August, 3 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Daylily: from late June to early August, 2½ ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does mapleleaf viburnum look like in winter?
Mapleleaf 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 mapleleaf viburnum good for bees and butterflies?
Mapleleaf viburnum is visited by pollinators, bees, butterflies and songbirds.
It is a host plant: the caterpillars of spring azure feed on its leaves. A butterfly can only lay its eggs on its host plants, so these do more for it than any nectar flower.
It is native to the United States and Canada.
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
- Koreanspice viburnum Viburnum carlesii
- Laurustinus Viburnum tinus
- Viburnum 'Summer Snowflake' Viburnum plicatum f. tomentosum 'Summer Snowflake'
- Witherod viburnum 'Winterthur' Viburnum nudum 'Winterthur'
In these guides
- Deer-resistant plants for shade
- Pet-safe plants for shade
- Native plants for shade
- Garden plants native to Canada
- Plants for butterflies
- Plants for bees
- Plants that feed garden birds
- Plants for a white garden
- Plants with purple and burgundy leaves
- Host plants for the spring azure
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 5 ft (150 cm) tall, 4 ft (120 cm) wide
- Plant
- 3½ ft (100 cm) apart
- Height class
- Tall (4 to 5 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Late May to mid June; flat plates; white
- Leaves
- Medium texture, deciduous; green, burgundy
- Shape
- Upright, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Part sun, part shade, shade
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Viburnaceae
- Comes from
- Eastern North America
- Attracts
- Pollinators, bees, butterflies, songbirds
- Host plant for
- Spring azure
- Stands up to
- Deer
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.