Brandywine Viburnum

Viburnum nudum ‘Bulk’ – Brandywine

Other Names: Possumhaw Viburnum, Smooth Witherod

Plant Details

USDA Plant Hardiness Zones: 5a-9b Find Your Zone

Plant Type: Deciduous Flowering Shrub or Small Tree

Height at Maturity: 5-6

Width at Maturity: 5-6′

Spacing: 5′ apart for solid hedge; 10’+ apart for space between plants.

Growth Habit / Form: Upright, Rounded

Growth Rate: Moderate

Flower Color: White

Flower Size: 3-5″ wide clusters

Flowering Period: Mid to Late Spring

Flower Type: Flat-top Clusters

Fragrant Flowers: Yes

Foliage Color: Dark Green, Deep Maroon-Red in fall

Fragrant Foliage: No

Berries: Yes

Berry Color: Vivid Pink and Blue

Sun Needs: Full Sun, Morning Sun With Afternoon Shade, Morning Shade with Afternoon Sun

Water Needs: Average

Soil Type: Clay (Loam or Sandy Clay), Loam, Sandy, Silty

Soil Moisture / Drainage: Moist to Wet

Soil pH: 5.0 – 6.5 (Acid)

Maintenance / Care: Low

Attracts: Butterflies, Visual Attention

Resistances: Cold Temperatures (-20F), Deer, Disease, Heat, Insect, Wet Soil, Boggy Soil

Description

Adored for its colorful flowers, foliage and berries that come across three seasons, the Brandywine Viburnum is a beautiful North American native selection that aims to please. In mid to late spring it features abundant, flat-topped clusters of aromatic white flowers up to 5 inches across. The flowers are followed by equally abundant berries in stunning shades of vivid pink and blue with both colors often appearing in the same cluster. Berry production is good without a pollinator, though Viburnum nudum ‘Winterthur’ as a companion might help to produce a few more berries. We hear the berries are highly acidic but edible. Elliptic to lanceolate glossy dark green leaves up to 4 inches long turn to incredible shades of deep maroon-red in fall. More compact than the species, Brandywine forms a well-rounded shrub 5 to 6 feet tall and equally as wide, which makes for a good fit as a specimen in smaller garden spaces or groupings or a hedge where space allows. As with other Viburnum nudum varieties, Brandywine prefers life on the moist side, so is perfect for growing in those sunny to partially shaded areas where the soil tends to stay damp to wet. A fine choice for attracting birds to your yard, but is not particularly attractive to deer and we’ve seen no problems with insects or disease. What more could we ask from a flowering shrub?

Landscape & Garden Uses

Growing 5 to 6 feet tall and equally as wide, Brandywine Viburnum is ideal for use as an eye-catching specimen in smaller garden spaces or in groupings in landscape, woodland and flowering shrub borders. Also a nice accent in home foundation plantings. A fine addition to native plant gardens, bog gardens, bird gardens and cottage gardens.

Suggested Spacing: 5 feet apart for solid hedge; 10 feet or more apart for space between plants.

Growing Preferences

Brandywine Viburnum is very easy to grow in most any damp to wet soil of average fertility and full sun to part shade. It prefers a loamy soil rich in organic matter. Deer haven’t touched it in our gardens. For best flowering, at least 4 hours of direct sunlight per day is suggested. Responds well to light pruning in fall for shaping purposes though doing so might remove some of the berries.

Helpful Articles

Click on the link below to find helpful advice from our experts on how to plant, prune, fertilize and water Viburnums.

How To Plant And Care For Viburnum Plants

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