Viburnum 'Summer Snowflake'
Viburnum plicatum f. tomentosum 'Summer Snowflake' · Viburnaceae
A compact doublefile viburnum with white lacecap flowers that keep coming from late spring into autumn.
- Size
- 6½ ft tall, 6 ft wide
- Zones
- 5 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Mid May to early September
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Anchor
A bed built around viburnum 'Summer Snowflake'
The planner designed this bed around viburnum 'Summer Snowflake' 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 viburnum 'Summer Snowflake' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Viburnum 'Summer Snowflake' × 1, white
- 2 Stemless gentian × 38, blue
- 3 October daphne × 8, pink
- 4 Bee balm 'Jacob Cline' × 3, red
- 5 Switchgrass 'Prairie Sky' × 3, tan
- 6 Salvia 'May Night' × 5, purple
- 7 Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' × 5, purple
- 8 Schubert's allium × 5, pink
- 9 Camassia × 5, blue
Why this plant
- The only flat plates. The others are trumpets, dense clusters, globes and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only white. White sits between stronger colours and calms them.
- Part of the bed's structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down. So does switchgrass 'Prairie Sky'.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 6½ 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 Schubert's allium (20 in): 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 17 weeks. From mid May to early September.
- Part of the bed's peak. With stemless gentian, salvia 'May Night', ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' and others in late May: 6 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as an English border: 7 of the 7 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The back corners are held by viburnum 'Summer Snowflake' and switchgrass 'Prairie Sky', the tallest plants on the plan. The longest in flower is viburnum 'Summer Snowflake': 17 weeks, from mid May to early September.
The planner's own design check: 8 Excellent, 8 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 viburnum 'Summer Snowflake' goes in a border
At 6½ ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is very tall (5 to 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.
It has the layered habit of the doublefile viburnums at half the size, and repeats through summer, which no other does. It suits a small garden.
- Lacecap flowers all summer
- Small gardens
- Mixed borders in part shade
What to plant with viburnum 'Summer Snowflake'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Siberian iris: in flower together for four weeks, from late May; low enough (2½ ft) to stand in front of it; happy in the same moist soil.
- Astilbe 'Purple Candles': in flower together for six weeks, from mid July; low enough (3½ ft) to stand in front of it; happy in the same moist soil.
- Japanese forest grass: its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; low enough (18 in) to stand in front of it; happy in the same moist soil.
Questions about viburnum 'Summer Snowflake'
Does viburnum 'Summer Snowflake' need sun or shade?
Viburnum 'Summer Snowflake' 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 soil that stays evenly moist, rich in organic matter, and a good soak in dry spells. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does viburnum 'Summer Snowflake' 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 viburnum 'Summer Snowflake' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers mid May to early September. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 5 | Mid May to early September |
|---|---|
| Zone 6 | Early May to early September |
| Zone 7 | Early May to early September |
| Zone 8 | Late April to early September |
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 viburnum 'Summer Snowflake' be planted?
5 ft (150 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 6 ft (180 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 6½ ft (200 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many viburnum 'Summer Snowflake' plants do I need?
Usually one. At 5 ft (150 cm) across, it is a plant you place, not one you mass. For a hedge or screen, set them 5 ft apart: three plants for a 10 ft run.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is viburnum 'Summer Snowflake' 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 viburnum 'Summer Snowflake'?
Viburnum 'Summer Snowflake' comes from China, Japan, Taiwan. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Siberian dogwood: the same job in a bed, the same size and the same colour; flowers late May to early June.
- Summersweet: the same job in a bed and the same colour; 12 in narrower, flowers mid July to mid August.
- Swamp azalea: the same job in a bed, the same size and the same colour; flowers late June to mid July, wants wet soil.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
Do deer eat viburnum 'Summer Snowflake'?
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 viburnum 'Summer Snowflake'?
Viburnum 'Summer Snowflake' is over by early September. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Garden chrysanthemum: from mid September to late October, 24 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Korean feather reed grass: from late August to mid October, 4 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- New England aster: from early September to mid October, 4 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does viburnum 'Summer Snowflake' look like in winter?
Viburnum 'Summer Snowflake' drops its leaves and stands as bare branches. That is when to see its shape, and to prune it if it needs pruning.
Is viburnum 'Summer Snowflake' good for bees and butterflies?
Viburnum 'Summer Snowflake' is visited by pollinators and butterflies.
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
- Mapleleaf viburnum Viburnum acerifolium
- Witherod viburnum 'Winterthur' Viburnum nudum 'Winterthur'
In these guides
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Plants for butterflies
- Long-flowering plants: 12 weeks or more
- Plants for a white garden
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 6½ ft (200 cm) tall, 6 ft (180 cm) wide
- Plant
- 5 ft (150 cm) apart
- Height class
- Very tall (5 to 6½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Mid May to early September; flat plates; white
- Leaves
- Medium texture, deciduous; dark green
- Shape
- Upright, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 5 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Rich, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Viburnaceae
- Comes from
- China, Japan, Taiwan
- Attracts
- Pollinators, butterflies
- Stands up to
- Drought
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.