Arrowwood Viburnum
Viburnum dentatum
The workhorse shrub that handles clay, wet, dry, shade, and sun. White June clusters, then dark blue berries for bluebirds and waxwings.
Typically 1 quart–3 gal · $17–$85 · final price at pickup
- Thu, Sep 248 AM – 4 PM
- Fri, Sep 258 AM – 4 PM
- Sat, Sep 268 AM – 2 PM
Tolerates more conditions than almost any native shrub, then fills the yard with pollinators in summer and birds in fall.
Arrowwood viburnum is the workhorse native shrub, and there are few spots in the Mid-Atlantic landscape where it won't perform. It handles clay, wet sites, dry slopes, deep shade, full sun. The range of tolerance is genuinely unusual for a flowering shrub. In early summer, flat-topped white flower clusters are showy and generously proportioned, drawing a broad range of native bees, beetles, and flies. The dark blue berries that follow in fall feed bluebirds, cedar waxwings, and robins through migration. The toothed foliage, which gives it the 'dentatum' name, turns shades of red to purple in fall in good years. The stems are tough, straight, and strong, which is why Indigenous peoples used them for arrow shafts. It's an excellent screen, hedge, or mass planting that requires nothing beyond establishment watering.
A nursery-grown plant, ready for the ground.
Healthy, container-grown arrowwood 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 arrowwood viburnum instead of Burning bush (Euonymus alatus). Same job in the garden, without the spread.
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Average
- Mature size
- 5–10 ft · 5–10 ft wide
- Bloom time
- June
- Bloom color
- White
- USDA zones
- 2–8
- Family
- Adoxaceae
- Native range
- Eastern North America from Maine to Florida, west to Minnesota and Texas
Care notes for arrowwood viburnum.
Among the most adaptable native shrubs. Tolerates full sun to full shade, dry to wet soils, clay to sandy loam. Water the first season; essentially maintenance-free after that. Can be pruned in late winter to manage size but rarely needs it. Plant in groups for the most bird-attracting berry production.
Pairs well with these.
Same light, same soil, same wildlife. Janet's picks to plant alongside arrowwood viburnum.
Or skip the guesswork.
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