Chinese snowball viburnum

I can get right to my point with this plant. If you have a spot where you’d like a large plant that will make a dramatic statement as spring opens its doors, gardener, I have one for you. It’s been around a good while, but not many of us have found it and tried it. Truth is, some of the rest of us who love it have actually hogged the plants as they’ve come into nurseries. I have several in my landscape, and I’d plant more if I found them.

This is Chinese snowball viburnum, Viburnum macrocephalum. That species name means “big head,” and it refers to the softball-sized flower clusters that start out lime green, then rather quickly expand out to bright creamy white.

The plant, native obviously to China, is hardy to USDA Zones 6-9, which means it will be happy in almost all the state. It has rather large leaves that turn yellow and drop in the fall.

If you grow Chinese snowballs where they’ll get morning sun and afternoon shade, and if you keep them moist and well fed all the while, they’ll grow to be 8 to 12 ft. tall and 8 to 10 ft. wide. The plants do best in slightly acidic soil, but they’ll tolerate most other settings as well.

Like most other viburnums, Chinese snowballs bloom in early spring. Any pruning you do should be done immediately after the flowers have shattered. Try to maintain them in natural form – they don’t take well to shearing.

Note: This plant is generally available in the spring in Texas garden centers. If you want one, I’d suggest that you buy it as soon as you see it. They don’t hang around long when gardeners start flocking in.