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Japanese snowball

Viburnum plicatum

Also called Pleated Viburnum

Japanese snowball
Photo: Kurt Stüber [1], CC BY-SA 3.0

Japanese snowball is a deciduous shrub grown for its large, snowball-like flower heads and pleated leaves. It does best in part sun with moist, well-drained soil and room to spread.

Family
Viburnaceae (Viburn family)
Grows as
Shrub
Light
Part shade, Full sun
Water
Water regularly during the first year and in dry spells, keeping the soil moist but not waterlogged.
Soil
Fertile, moist, well-drained soil; slightly acidic to neutral.
Temperature
Hardy to about -25 °C; protect young plants from harsh frost and drying winds.
How easy
Easy
Native range
C. & S. China, Japan to Taiwan
Climate
temperate

About

Viburnum plicatum is a species of flowering plant in the family Viburnaceae (formerly Caprifoliaceae), native to mainland China, Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. The Latin specific epithet plicatum means "pleated", referring to the texture of the leaves.

How to grow it

Viburnum plicatum is a popular ornamental plant, both in its native area and other temperate regions. Some of the more popular cultivars are selected for having all of their flowers large and sterile with few or no fertile flowers; their flowerheads resemble a snowball, giving them the popular name Japanese snowball bush. Cultivars of this type include 'Grandiflorum' and 'Rotundifolium'.

Other Viburnum plants

Mapleleaf viburnum · Viburnum awabuki · Birchleaf Viburnum · Viburnum ×bodnantense · Burkwood viburnum · Viburnum ×carlcephalum · Korean spice viburnum · Viburnum cinnamomifolium · David Viburnum · Squashberry · Viburnum erubescens · Culver's root

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Viburnum plicatum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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