Arrowwood Viburnum

Viburnum dentatum

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.