Clethra alnifolia Rosea

Clethra alnifolia ‘Rosea’, or sweet pepperbush ‘Rosea’, is a charming deciduous bush with clusters of pink, highly fragrant flowers, visited by bees and butterflies. Its bushy habit and tolerance for partial shade and damp soils make it ideal for woodland edges and pond margins. Easy to grow in acidic, moist soil and very hardy, it integrates well into naturalistic scenes and informal hedges.

A member of the Clethraceae family, Clethra alnifolia has the botanical synonyms Clethra tomentosa and various old names (e.g., Clethra dentata); the ‘Rosea’ cultivar is an old horticultural selection, known for its pink buds and flowers, which become almost white.
The species is native to eastern North America, from the coasts of Nova Scotia and Maine down to Florida, and west to Texas, where it is naturally found in marshes, peat moors, damp woodland edges, stream banks, and wooded dunes on acidic sands.
This shrub is rounded and well-branched, with upright stems bearing smooth brown-grey bark. Its base is slightly suckering, and its growth is slow to medium. In the ground, ‘Rosea’ reaches between 1.50 m and 2 m in all directions at maturity. The alternate, oblong, finely toothed leaves measure 4 to 10 cm long by 2 to 4 cm wide. They are a medium green in summer, then turn golden yellow in autumn before falling; the foliage is deciduous. The shrub flowers on the current year's wood in upright spikes 5 to 15 cm long, composed of small, very fragrant 5-petalled flowers. This flowering period lasts from July to August-September. The fruits are small, spherical, brownish capsules reminiscent of peppercorns, which are inedible; they persist through winter, and feed small animals.
The plant may produce suckers, which should be removed to contain the clump. It is hardy down to -20 °C.

Clethra alnifolia 'Rosea' will only thrive in acidic soils that never dry out, in a partially shaded position. It tolerates some clay, but dislikes waterlogged soils. Plant this bush in ericaceous soil beds or at the foot of large deciduous trees, provided the soil remains somewhat moist in summer. Pair it, for example, with large rhododendrons with mauve flowers (R. Catawbiense Grandiflorum), white flowers (Cunningham’s White), or pink flowers (Scintillation), with autumn camellias, and Kalmias.

The English name summersweet or sweet pepperbush refers to the sweet scent of the flowers and the peppercorn-like appearance of the dried fruits; the wild species with white flowers is also planted to stabilise damp banks on the east coast of the United States.