Versatile viburnums

It’s been voted Chelsea Flower Show plant of the decade and it has amazing fragrance, so perhaps now is the time to really consider viburnums, says Graham Rice

- Graham Rice

I GREW up in the London suburbs and waiting at the stop for the bus to school on a chilly winter’s morning, there was a sweet smell wafting from the tired and dusty council shrubbery behind the stop. Way back then I had no idea what it was – but I do now. It was a viburnum.

In particular it was a variety of Viburnum x bodnantense and do you know what? Even after all these decades it’s still there!

And that tells us one of the most important things about viburnums. Apart from having the wisdom to plant that viburnum by the bus stop, the council depended on it to do its thing without too much attention. That’s why viburnums were, and still are, popular – they’re tough. Of course, with a little tlc they’ll develop more elegantly and flower more prolifically, the one in my garden has been flowering since the end of October.

Delicious scent and berries

But they have other features. There’s the clusters of pink and or white flowers. There’s that delicious scent and, although not all are fragrant, many are. There’s the berries that follow – in red, yellow, black and even vivid blue – sometimes two colours in one cluster. And while many feature bold evergreen foliage, others bring us dramatic autumn leaf colour.

A few make good weed-smothering groundcover, some make bold specimens, many are good for birds, either as nest sites or for their crops of berries. Most thrive in sun or partial shade, a few prefer partial or full shade. All appreciate thorough preparation and a mulch every year or two, plus some thoughtful pruning after they’ve flowered – although most will develop their own elegance if you just leave them to get on with it.

Choosing viburnums

Fragrance

Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Deben’