And the winner is...

There are two Viburnum plicatum shrubs in my yard. One is planted in rich soil where it gets watered often. The other is in a tough spot, more shade, more tree competition (including Black Walnuts, Juglans nigra) and no water during dry spells.

This is how the Viburnum in the tough spot looks, it's just as amazingly beautiful as the one in the great spot. We put it over the spot our two kitties Olive and Muffin are buried.


When it comes to shrubs I'm no expert. I've only been really paying attention to them for 4 or 5 years now and haven't added too many to our gardens here. Unfortunately there weren't wonderful shrubs waiting here for us, just the usual array of poorly grown yews (Taxus baccata) and one bank of Rhododendrons in front of the house.

This is Viburnum burkwoodii 'Mohawk' which I find lovely. My only complaint might be that the catalog listed it as "more compact than burwoodii" and it is currently towering over 7 feet tall.


Here's a close up of those lovely blooms. This photo was taken last year on June 1st so I have a bit of a wait before I get to see this sight again.


Viburnum dilatum 'Erie' is the winner when it comes to shrub shape. It truly is compact, short and wide, perfect in the semi shade border.

When looking for these shrubs I considered light requirements, soil requirements (we have naturally acidic soil), blooms and highly important was berries to feed the wildlife. While I can't say I've seen enough berries to invite whole flocks of birds, I can say that I'm very happy with the choices I've made.

For those of you who were thinking that my title alluded to the local elections here, I'll just add this, apparently, like my Viburnums, I'm a winner.