One of the plants that is such a joy to watch emerging in our garden is viburnum. While I have two varieties in the garden, my favorite is my ‘Snowball viburnum’ (common name) or Viburnum opulus ‘Sterile’. (This is the Eastern snowball variety, rather than the larger Chinese snowball variety). There are over 150 known varieties of viburnum but none could be cherished as much as this one.
They’re super happy in the Napa Valley, growing to over 8′ high and approximately 10′ wide. When they decide to emerge, the first thing you see is small compact green balls. Then, the leaves begin to arrive and the green balls gradually transition into white balls. I’m as much of a fan of the green balls as I am the white balls – and together they’re incredible!
They make beautiful flowers in large, tall vases, but I’m always remiss to cut into my beautiful plants. They’re so stunning to enjoy on the plant.
Then, within about a month, the white snowballs go away and we’re left with a stately, beautiful, tall, shaped viburnum plant full of green leaves. They provide nice scale and structure to the garden. To me, this plant is a must-have.
