Mapleleaf Viburnum
Viburnum acerifolium
The viburnum for deep shade, with maple-like leaves that turn rose-pink, lavender, and burgundy at once in fall. Deer leave it alone.
Typically 1 quart–3 gal · $17–$85 · final price at pickup
- Thu, Aug 138 AM – 4 PM
- Fri, Aug 148 AM – 4 PM
- Sat, Aug 158 AM – 2 PM
Deep-shade native shrub with rose-lavender fall color unlike anything else in the landscape.
Mapleleaf viburnum is the viburnum for the place where the sun barely reaches. It grows naturally as a forest understory shrub, thriving in the kind of deep shade that would challenge most flowering plants. The three-lobed, maple-like leaves give it away from a distance. They're almost too pretty for an understory plant, with a texture and shape that's elegant in a low-light setting. In late spring, small white flower clusters appear above the foliage. The dark purple-black berries that follow in fall feed birds through migration. The fall color is the revelation: in enough light, mapleleaf viburnum turns rose-pink, lavender, and burgundy all at once in late October, one of the most unusual fall color palettes of any native shrub. Deer leave it alone even in high-pressure areas. It suckers moderately to spread as a colony under trees.
A nursery-grown plant, ready for the ground.
Healthy, container-grown mapleleaf viburnum propagated on-site at Hill House from regional genetics. Includes a one-page care card. We make every effort to supply plants as listed; occasionally we substitute a similar species of equal value.
Plant mapleleaf viburnum instead of Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii) in shaded woodland edges. Same job in the garden, without the spread.
- Sun
- Part shade
- Water
- Average
- Mature size
- 3–6 ft · 36–72 in wide
- Bloom time
- Late spring
- Bloom color
- White
- USDA zones
- 4–8
- Family
- Adoxaceae
- Native range
- Eastern North America from Nova Scotia to Florida and west to Minnesota
Care notes for mapleleaf viburnum.
Deep shade to part shade in dry to average woodland soil. This is one of the few shrubs that actually prefers dry shade. it's perfect under established oaks or beeches where nothing else wants to grow. Water until established, then step back. Let it spread naturally to fill in the understory layer.
Pairs well with these.
Same light, same soil, same wildlife. Janet's picks to plant alongside mapleleaf viburnum.
Or skip the guesswork.
Curated packages bundle complementary species for an instant habitat. One reservation, one pickup day, a printed layout map.
Short on Space Package
For gardeners who have an abundance of passion but are short on space, this package features tidy, upright, clump-forming natives that behave and function well in small spaces.
Shade Bed Package
Ferns, sedges, and woodland natives that thrive under existing trees.
Birder’s Paradise Package
For the avid bird watchers and budding ornithologists in our community, the Birder’s Paradise Package consists of species that Hill House Nursery staff and longtime native plant advocates such as Doug Tallamy consider ‘premier bird garden plants’.