Fothergilla major 'Arkansas Beauty'
   
Species Native to Missouri
Common Name: large fothergilla
Type: Deciduous shrub
Family: Hamamelidaceae
Zone: 5 to 8
Height: 4 to 6 feet
Spread: 4 to 6 feet
Bloom Time: April to May
Bloom Color: White
Bloom Description: White
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Low
Flowers: Showy Flowers, Fragrant Flowers
Leaves: Good Fall Color
Uses: Hedge

Culture

Easily grown in average, medium, well-drained soil in full sun to part shade. Prefers moist, acidic, organically rich soils which have good drainage. Best flowers in full sun. May spread by root suckers to form colonies if suckers are not promptly removed.

Noteworthy Characteristics

This large fothergilla cultivar is a slow-growing deciduous shrub with a mounded habit which typically grows to 6' tall and as wide. Best ornamental features are its fragrant spring flowers, summer foliage and superior fall color. Features terminal, bottle brush-like spikes (to 2" long) of tiny, fragrant, apetulous, ivory white flowers. Flower color comes from the showy stamens (white filaments and yellowish anthers). Flowers appear in spring, usually before the foliage emerges. Rounded to oblong leaves (to 4" long) are light green. Foliage turns varying shades of red, orange and yellow in fall. Generally differs from the species by growing more compact and by producing foliage that lacks the pubescence and darker green cast of the species. Species is native to the southern Appalachians from North Carolina to northern Alabama.

Problems

No serious insect or disease problems.

Garden Uses

Group or mass in shrub borders, foundation plantings or native plantings. Hedges. Mixes well with rhododendrons and azaleas which generally share the same soil requirements.