Viburnum plicatum Summer Snow Flake

The Viburnum Plicatum Summer Snow Flake is a variety of Chinese Snowball Bush that is naturally decorative for most of the year. This deciduous bush with a beautifully layered habit offers a white flowering in spring, delicately arranged in clusters on its foliage. In autumn, it is painted with coppery and glowing hues, and in winter, it reveals the beautiful broad structure of its branches. With its hydrangea-like appearance, this snowball bush surpasses them with its early flowering and prefers sunny exposures. Like hydrangeas, it prefers moist and limestone-poor soils.

The Viburnum plicatum is a deciduous bush from the Adoxaceae family (formerly classified in the Caprifoliaceae family), native to China and Japan. 'Summer Snow Flake' is a horticultural cultivar awarded the Award of Garden Merit in 1992 in the UK, one of the highest accolades of the plant world. This variety stands out from other species due to its slower growth rate and stunning spring blooms. With its rather horizontal layered branches, the plant has a characteristic layered habit, its structured and light silhouette making it attractive throughout the year, even in winter. It will reach a height of approximately 3 m (9 ft 10 in) with a spread of 1.50 m (4 ft 11 in) to 2 m (6 ft 7 in) at maturity, with a rather slow growth rate. Flowering occurs in May and continues until June. The flat-topped flower heads, 4 to 8 cm wide, develop on the top of the branches. The small, beige buds transform into white-green fertile flowers, surrounded by a crown of well-developed sterile flowers with white oval-shaped petals. The pollinated fertile flowers transform into small red and then black berries at maturity, gathered in generous clusters. The deciduous leaves measure 5 to 8 cm (3.1 in) in length, are oval-shaped, tapered, strongly veined, and have jagged edges which resemble hazelnut leaves. Their colour is a relatively dark and satin green on the upper side, with a more downy underside. The foliage takes on sumptuous autumn colours, turning orange and deep red.

This ornamental bush deserves a prominent place in a Japanese, English, or romantic garden. It can be planted in the centre of a mixed border, showcasing summer and autumn flowering, beautiful fruiting, and architectural foliage. It can even be appreciated in winter, thanks to its beautifully stylised branches and somewhat Japanese appearance. This Viburnum 'Summer Snow Flake' can also be planted as a group or hedge, along with other flowering shrubs such as sacred bamboo, Black Lace elderberry, glorybower (Clerodendrum trichotomum), and an 'Atropurpurea' Japanese Barberry whose purple foliage will enhance its white flower heads and red fruits. It can also be planted with compact photinias, elaeagnus, camellias, pieris, or hydrangeas in non-limestone soil; the options are endless!