Common Name: Sargent viburnum
Type: Deciduous shrub
Family: Adoxaceae
Native Range: Siberia, Russian Far East, Mongolia, China, Japan, South Korea, North Korea
Zone: 3 to 7
Height: 12.00 to 15.00 feet
Spread: 12.00 to 15.00 feet
Bloom Time: May
Bloom Description: White
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Low
Suggested Use: Hedge
Flower: Showy
Leaf: Good Fall
Attracts: Birds, Butterflies
Fruit: Showy
Culture
Easily grown in average, medium moisture, well-drained soil in full sun to part shade. Prefers moist loams, but tolerates a wide range of soils. Prune as needed immediately after flowering. Best growth is in cool climates. Not recommended for planting south of USDA Zone 7.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Viburnum sargentii, commonly called Sargent viburnum, is an upright, rounded, multi-stemmed, deciduous shrub that typically grows to 12-15’ tall and as wide. Opposite, three-lobed, toothed, maple-like leaves (2-5” long) emerge with bronze purplish hues in spring, mature to medium-dark green in summer and develop yellow to red color in fall. Flowers in flat-topped cymes (to 3-4” across) bloom in mid to late spring, with each cyme containing small sterile flowers edged with larger white fertile flowers. Flowers give way to spherical, scarlet, berry-like drupes (to 1/2”) that mature in late summer but persist well into winter.
Genus name comes from the Latin name of a species plant.
Specific epithet honors Charles Sprague Sargent (1841-1927), botanist and first director of the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University, who was responsible for introducing this plant in Europe.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems.
Uses
Shrub borders, screens, hedges. Specimen, small groups or mass.