Family Viburnaceae
Originating from China, Japan, and Taiwan.
Received the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit.
- Lacecap flowers bloom white in spring, developing a pink blush in summer.
- Stunning tiered branches bear strikingly veined leaves with blazing autumn colours.
- Easy to grow in any soil in full sun or dappled shade.
Japanese Snowball in Your Garden
Brilliant, elegant tiers of pure white flowers densely clothe the branches of this refined variety. They crowd them right to the very tips, like a layered wedding cake celebrating the coming summer. Norfolk woodland borders glow with its unique elegant tiers, each lacecap flower vying for space, becoming pink-blushed in summer.
Viburnum plicatum, a compact, beautiful species from Asian gardens, has yielded the new variety ‘Kilimanjaro Sunrise’ flowering from April to May. This upright shrub, reaching 2.8m high and 1.5m wide in 5–10 years, thrives in Suffolk’s sunny borders.
Its handsome, serrated, dark green leaves, deeply veined, transform into a fiery spectacle of red, orange, and purple in autumn, a standout in any garden. Red berries follow the flowers, ripening to black by late summer, luring birds. A second, lighter flush of blooms often surprises in autumn.
Care Tips for Viburnum ‘Kilimanjaro Sunrise’
- Soil and Sun: Grow in any non-waterlogged soil. It adapts to sun or part shade.
- Planting: Spring or autumn avoids diligent summer watering; soak root ball before planting.
- Watering: Keep moist while it establishes roots in its first year; tolerates moderately dry conditions once mature.
- Pruning: None required, but trim lightly after flowering to shape or enhance its tiers.
Few shrubs match the profusion of ‘Kilimanjaro Sunrise’s’ flowering, or its strikingly stacked, sophisticated poise. Its pyrotechnical autumn colours and coral to black berries make it a non-stop performer in UK gardens, from spring right up to winter.
Planting Ideas for the compact shrub; Japanese Snowball
The winter absence of ‘Kilimanjaro Sunrise’ can be forgiven for its spectacular summer and autumn show. Set the stage for its theatrics by planting it with rounded and billowing evergreen shrubs. Pieris ‘Valley Valentine’ and ‘Mountain Fire’, Aucuba ‘Pepperspot’ and Azara microphylla ‘Variegata’ make a lush backdrop for winter.
The evergreen shrubs share its woodland character and extend the flowering season to early spring/late winter. For extra summer flamboyance and drama add perennials Actaea ‘James Compton’, Persicaria ‘Red Dragon’ and ‘Fat Domino’, Primula vialii and capitata.
