Viburnum plicatum Grandiflorum Noble

Viburnum plicatum Grandiflorum Noble® is arguably the most beautiful of the snowball viburnums. This variety offers a flowering in large corymbs of white blooms barely tinged with pink, reminiscent of the well-known V. opulus, but on a plant a thousand times more beautiful. It distinguishes itself by its magnificent, bushy, rounded, and luxuriant habit, its earlier, more abundant, and whiter flowering, reminiscent of certain hydrangea balls. The autumn colours, sumptuous from September onwards in a range of warm hues, are another asset of this deciduous shrub that definitely displays a beautiful presence in the garden. Of great beauty, this queen of viburnums will only thrive in a fresh, well-drained soil, preferably non-calcareous.

Viburnum plicatum, sometimes called Japanese snowball, is a shrub from the Adoxaceae family (formerly classified in the Caprifoliaceae family), native to China and Japan. Grandiflorum Noble® is a horticultural creation that stands out mainly for its large spherical inflorescences composed solely of sterile florets. With a horizontal branching structure, the plant has a bushy, rounded, and spreading habit. At maturity, it will reach approximately 2 m in height by 3 m in spread, with a rather slow growth. Flowering occurs in May and continues until June. The inflorescences in broad spherical cymes of 10 cm develop at the end of the branches. They consist of small, well-developed, sterile flowers, white in colour sometimes tinged with pink. The leaves, deciduous, measure 5 to 8 cm in length, are oval-shaped, tapered, strongly veined, with regularly serrated edges. Their fairly dark green hue is glossy on the upper side, with the underside being pubescent. The foliage takes on beautiful colours from late summer and in autumn, turning from yellow to dark burgundy red to purplish.

The "snowball queen" deserves a prime spot in a small garden or at the centre of a mixed border that will showcase summer and autumn blooms, beautiful fruiting, and graphic foliage. Plant this Viburnum Grandiflorum Noble® in a flowering shrub border, alongside a Bambù sacro, a 'Black Lace' elderberry, Clerodendrum trichotomum, a slender and silvery Salix exigua to complement its autumn hues, or even a 'Atropurpurea' Berberis thunbergii whose purple foliage will enhance its white inflorescences. It can also be paired with compact photinias, elaeagnus, camellias, or hydrangeas in non-calcareous soil, the choice is vast. In a border of low perennials and grasses, its beautiful presence will be enjoyed in winter.