Fragrant viburnum

Fragrant viburnum (Viburnum carlesii) in bloom
Photo by Brad Sylvester, copyright 2012.

Every year we attend the 4-H fundraising auction in Pomfret, Connecticut. Right outside the door of the hall in which the auction is held, there is a very large viburnum bush which is always in full bloom during the auction in early May. The clusters of pink blossoms are beautiful to look at, but even more notable is the scent of the viburnum. The fragrance is exquisite and pervades the entire area for a few weeks each spring.

Since the first time my wife saw the flowering bush there, she wanted one for our yard. Unfortunately, we hadn't been able to find one at an area nursery. We finally got a small one in 2009 and planted it beside the back deck of our house. The idea is that the fragrance of the viburnum will waft up as we sit out on the deck in the springtime, especially when it gets bigger.

Once it finishes blooming this spring, I'm actually going to take some cuttings from the fragrant viburnum and propagate it. I'd like to add a half dozen more of them around the yard. While some plants are relatively easy to root without rooting hormone, I find that most trees and woody bushes do better with some rooting hormone applied. I have a powder version containing 0.1% Indole-3-butyric acid. For a yield of six new plants that actually take root, I'll probably take 12 cuttings, so that I end up with too many rather than risk too few.

The Fragrant Viburnum (Viburnum carlesii), sometimes called Koreanspice, grows about six feet tall and six feet wide. Some specimens can get larger if conditions are right. They are hardy in growing zones 4-7. The one we've had for a couple of winters here on a mountain in southern New Hampshire is doing quite well and has had no evidence of winter die-off.

The flowers are a light pink to white. Like many plants that put on such effusive displays, the flowers of the fragrant viburnum are short-lived. In a couple of weeks, they wilt and fall away. Like the forsythia, next year's flowers are formed from growth that occurs shortly after this year's flowers drop off the plant. Unlike the forsythia, however, the viburnum tends to grow a bit more slowly and with more control. If pruning is needed, it should be done in the spring after the fragrant flowers have died away.