Spicebush
Lindera benzoin · Lauraceae
A native woodland shrub with a haze of tiny yellow flowers on bare twigs in early spring, aromatic leaves that turn clear yellow in autumn, and red berries on female plants.
- Size
- 10 ft tall, 10 ft wide
- Zones
- 4 to 9
- Light
- Part sun to shade
- Flowers
- Late March to mid April
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Anchor
A bed built around spicebush
The planner designed this bed around spicebush when this page was made: a 30 × 14 ft (9.1 × 4.3 m) English border in zone 6, part shade. It chose the other plants from the 513 that suit those conditions, and says below why spicebush stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Spicebush × 1, yellow
- 2 Blue star creeper × 53, blue
- 3 White barrenwort 'Niveum' × 34, white
- 4 Inkberry × 1, dark green leaves
- 5 Japanese anemone 'Honorine Jobert' × 5, white
- 6 Tall astilbe 'Superba' × 5, purple
- 7 Turtlehead 'Hot Lips' × 5, pink
- 8 Gray's sedge × 3, green
- 9 Columbine meadow rue × 8, lavender
- 10 Squirrel corn × 24, white
- 11 Robin's plantain 'Lynnhaven Carpet' × 48, lavender
- 12 Lady's mantle × 3, green
- 13 Siberian bugloss × 16, blue
- 14 Canada lily × 4, orange
- 15 Yellow trout lily × 27, yellow
- 16 Double snowdrop × 29, white
Why this plant
- The only dense clusters. The others are airy sprays, open bowls, plumes and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- Part of the bed's structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down. So do inkberry and Gray's sedge.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 10 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 Japanese anemone 'Honorine Jobert' (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 March to mid April.
- Fills a gap. For two of those weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 33 of the 37 groups (89%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The flowering is at its height in late May, with 6 kinds out together. Low plants run along 99% of the front edge: blue star creeper, Robin's plantain 'Lynnhaven Carpet' and white barrenwort 'Niveum'.
The planner's own design check: 12 Excellent, 4 Good, 1 Satisfactory.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where spicebush goes in a border
At 10 ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is super tall (over 6½ 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.
The native answer to forsythia for shade, and far better for wildlife. Its autumn yellow is the brightest in the understorey.
- Early spring flowers in shade
- Native woodland gardens
- Food plant of the spicebush swallowtail
What to plant with spicebush
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Virginia bluebells: blue against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, in flower together for two weeks; low enough (20 in) to stand in front of it; happy in the same moist soil.
- 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.
- Solomon's seal: takes over when it finishes, flowering from early May; low enough (3 ft) to stand in front of it; happy in the same moist soil.
Questions about spicebush
Does spicebush need sun or shade?
Spicebush 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 soil that stays evenly moist, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells. It copes with soil that stays wet.
What zones does spicebush grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 9. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does spicebush flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late March to mid April. 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 April to late April |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Late March to mid April |
| Zone 6 | Late March to mid April |
| Zone 7 | Mid March to early April |
| Zone 8 | Early March to late March |
| Zone 9 | Early March to late March |
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 spicebush be planted?
8 ft (250 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 10 ft (300 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 10 ft (300 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many spicebush plants do I need?
Usually one. At 8 ft (250 cm) across, it is a plant you place, not one you mass. For a hedge or screen, set them 8 ft apart: two plants for a 10 ft run.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is spicebush 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 spicebush?
They may. NC State does not list it as resistant to deer or rabbits. Where they visit, protect it, or plant it among ones they avoid.
What flowers after spicebush?
Spicebush is over by mid April. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Solomon's seal: from early May to late May, 3 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems (a recorded partner).
- Virginia bluebells: from mid April to early May, 20 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems (a recorded partner).
- Northern Lights azalea: from mid May to early June, 5 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does spicebush look like in winter?
Spicebush drops its leaves and stands as bare branches. That is when to see its shape, and to prune it if it needs pruning.
Is spicebush good for bees and butterflies?
Spicebush is visited by pollinators, butterflies and songbirds.
It is a host plant: the caterpillars of palamedes swallowtail and spicebush swallowtail 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.
In these guides
- Plants for wet soil and rain gardens
- Pet-safe plants for shade
- Native plants for shade
- Garden plants native to Canada
- Plants for butterflies
- Plants that feed garden birds
Zone guides: Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8 · Zone 9
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 10 ft (300 cm) tall, 10 ft (300 cm) wide
- Plant
- 8 ft (250 cm) apart
- Height class
- Super tall (over 6½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Late March to mid April; dense clusters; yellow
- Leaves
- Medium texture, deciduous; green
- Shape
- Rounded, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 9
- Light
- Part sun, part shade, shade
- Soil
- Average, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Lauraceae
- Comes from
- South East Canada to Central & Eastern U.S.A
- Attracts
- Pollinators, butterflies, songbirds
- Host plant for
- Palamedes swallowtail, Spicebush swallowtail
- Stands up to
- Wet soil
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.