Viburnum plicatum Opening Day

Viburnum plicatum Opening Day is a new variety of snowball bush selected in the United States. Its name pays tribute to one of America's favourite sports: baseball. Its flowering coincides with the famous "opening day," the start of the season, usually in early April. For several weeks, its big pompom-like flowers (the size of a baseball, of course!) will delight with their wonderful transition from greenish-white to pure white. They will stand out beautifully against its dark green, highly veined foliage, turning sumptuous deep purple in autumn. This beautiful deciduous bush, with a neat and luxuriant habit, adds a strong presence to the garden. It will only thrive in cool, well-drained soil, preferably non-calcareous.

Viburnum plicatum, sometimes called Japanese snowball bush, is a shrub in the Viburnaceae family, native to China and Japan. The cultivar Opening Day is a recent creation by American horticulturist Michael Dirr. It is part of the "First Editions" collection, which are new varieties selected for their great hardiness, disease resistance, and ease of cultivation. It stands out primarily for its large spherical inflorescences composed solely of sterile florets. The plant has a compact, bushy, and dense habit. At maturity, it will reach about 2.5m (8ft) in height and 2m (7ft) in spread, with a rather slow growth rate. Flowering occurs in April-May. The inflorescences in spherical clusters develop at the end of the branches. They are composed of small, well-developed sterile flowers, initially greenish-white and turning pure white. The deciduous leaves are ovate and tapering, strongly veined, with regularly toothed edges. Their rather dark green colour is shiny on the upper surface, with a pubescent underside, creating a lovely contrast with the red petioles. The foliage takes on beautiful colours from late summer through autumn, ranging from dark burgundy to purplish. 

This beautiful snowball bush deserves a prominent place in a small garden or at the centre of a mixed border that highlights summer and autumn flowering, beautiful fruiting, and sculptural foliage. Plant Opening Day in a shrub border with flowering plants, alongside a sacred bamboo, a 'Black Lace' elderberry, Clerodendrum trichotomum, a slender and silver Salix exigua to complement its autumn colours, or Berberis thunbergii 'Atropurpurea' with its purple foliage that will enhance its white inflorescences. It can also be combined with compact photinias, elaeagnus, camellias, or hydrangeas in non-calcareous soil.