Common Name: burkwood viburnum
Type: Deciduous shrub
Family: Adoxaceae
Native Range: Garden origin
Zone: 4 to 8
Height: 8.00 to 10.00 feet
Spread: 6.00 to 7.00 feet
Bloom Time: April
Bloom Description: Pinkish white
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Low
Flower: Showy, Fragrant
Leaf: Good Fall
Attracts: Birds, Butterflies
Fruit: Showy
Tolerate: Drought
Culture
Easily grown in average, medium moisture, well-drained soil in full sun to part shade. Prefers moist loams, but tolerates a wide range of soils. Mature plants generally have some good drought tolerance. Prune as needed immediately after flowering, however pruning off spent flowers will eliminate summer fruit display, which admittedly is not very showy for this hybrid. For best cross-pollination and subsequent fruit display, plant shrubs in groups rather than as single specimens.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Viburnum × burkwoodii, commonly called Burkwood viburnum, is a densely-branched, multi-stemmed shrub which typically grows 8-10' tall and 5-7' wide. Features fragrant white flowers arranged in flat-topped cymes (2-4" wide) in April. Flowers are followed by pendulous clusters of red berry-like drupes which ripen black. Fruit is not particularly showy. Ovate, glossy dark green leaves (to 4" long) turn maroon in fall, but remain evergreen in warm southern climates (USDA Zones 7 and 8). This hybrid is a cross between V. utile and V. carlesii.
Genus name comes from the Latin name of a species plant.
Specific epithet honors the brothers Albert and Arthur Burkwood, English nurserymen and plant hybridists.
Several excellent cultivars (e.g., 'Mohawk') have become more popular shrubs than the straight hybrid.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems.
Uses
Specimen or groups. Shrub borders, foundations, hedges or screens.