Viburnum trilobum Bailey Compact

Viburnum trilobum Bailey Compact is a variety of High Bush Cranberry that has retained the robust character of the North American species, while focusing its qualities on a compact and remarkably colourful shrub. A charming plant, it offers in early summer a few white flowers gathered in flat-topped clusters, soon replaced by pretty clusters of red currants, which are all the more ornamental as they persist for a long time on a transfigured autumn foliage, invaded by orange and then crimson-purple. This fruit pleases birds, but also humans who can consume the berries like cranberries. 

Native to Canada and the northern United States, Viburnum trilobum is a deciduous shrub extremely resistant to cold and wet soils. It thrives in any good garden soil that is not too dry. Formerly classified in the Caprifoliaceae family, it now belongs to the Adoxaceae family. The Bailey Compact variety, recently discovered at Bailey Nurseries in Minnesota, stands out for its much more modest growth but also for a more timid flowering, which is largely compensated by fabulous autumn colours.

The plant forms a bushy clump reaching about 1.5 m (5 ft) in all directions, with a fairly rapid growth. The branches are grey and slightly arched at their tips. Flowering, which is not very abundant, begins at the end of May or the beginning of June. White in colour, it takes the form of flattened clusters at the end of the branches. On each inflorescence, the larger sterile flowers surround a small centre composed of fertile flowers in the shape of buds. This flowering is followed by beautiful fruiting that persists until winter on the bush. The shiny red fruits attract birds that will brighten the shortest and saddest days of the year. Its foliage is deciduous, with leaves divided into 3 lobes (hence the name of the plant) that are 5 to 10 cm (2 to 4 in) long, with strongly marked veins.

Hardy well below -15 °C (5 °F), Viburnum trilobum Bailey Compact thrives in a sunny location to enhance its autumn colours, in ordinary but moist soil. It is mainly used in low mixed hedges or shrub beds. In this setting, it will accompany other viburnums with staggered flowering (V. lantana, V. x bodnantense, V. x burkwoodii), deciduous euonymus, or a Cotinus for autumnal flamboyance. This champion of hardiness allows for the creation of a very pleasant countryside atmosphere in the company of native plants such as medlar, hazelnut, hawthorn, Prunus mahaleb, blackthorn, or hedge honeysuckle, etc.