This week: Arrowwood Viburnum Brings the Blooms
Hello!
It’s Viburnum season! Plenty of varieties are in bloom right now, and one such beauty is Arrowwood Viburnum (Viburnum dentatum). This shrub is covered in large white flowers (and beneficial insects) in late spring. Later in the summer, it sports clusters of blueish-black berries that attract songbirds like Eastern Bluebirds and Northern Flickers. In the fall, the foliage turns to yellows, oranges, and reds.
Like many shrubs, this native thrives in full sun to partial shade and is adaptable to both dry and moist soils. It will survive against a sunny brick wall (where this picture was taken) and in natural settings alongside streams. In the wild, it can grow six to ten feet tall, and cultivars have been selected to control for height, flowering duration, and foliage color.
So what's the catch?
There’s just one potential downside to this lovely plant. There’s an invasive beetle that feasts on Viburnum leaves, the aptly named Viburnum Leaf Beetle. So far, this beetle has been causing problems in New York, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Washington State, and a small part of Pennsylvania and Ohio—something to watch out for, but it isn’t a reason to avoid planting the species. To future-proof your landscape, avoid mass plantings of Viburnums. Instead, use them in mixed hedges or as accents in borders and foundation plantings.
About That Common Name
Have you been waiting for the origin story of the common name? Reportedly, Native Americans used the wood to make arrow shafts. I tried to track this story down in my usual ethnobotany resources and came up with very little specific to Viburnum dentatum. Still, I did find an interesting use: the bark was an ingredient in Ojibwa kinnikinnick. Kinnikinnick is a term applied to various smoking mixtures prepared by native peoples for social, medicinal, or spiritual reasons. The more you know!
Elsewhere:
Blooms to Bees will be at the Swissvale Farmer’s Market this coming Saturday, June 14, from 9 am to 1:00 pm. I’ll be selling guides and journals, and handing out free seed packets, bookmarks, and tidbits of advice. Stop by and say hi! The market is located in the parking lot of Dickson Preparatory STEAM Academy, 7301 Schoyer Ave, Swissvale, PA 15218.
Have a good week,
Julie