Description
Botanical Name: Viburnum obovatum ‘Select’
Common Name: ‘Select’ Walter’s Viburnum
Description: This is a mid-size nativar of our beautiful native Walter’s Viburnum. There are so many nice viburnums that are native to Florida that should be used instead of the non-native viburnums.
Select grows 6-8 feet tall x 3-5 feet wide. It has a moderate growth rate. It is pretty versatile as to where it can grow in your garden: sun, part sun, or part shade is just fine. Keep in mind that the more shade it’s in, the less it will flower. Evergreen, but may briefly drop its leaves in very cold winters. Drought tolerant after becoming established. Can be planted in loamy, clay, or sandy acidic soils as long as it is well draining.
The flower buds start out a pink color, then open to dainty flat-topped clusters of white flowers. It blooms heavy in winter to spring. The ones I have in stock started blooming mid-January. Sometimes they will rebloom in the fall. Its leaves are small (about 1 inch in length), ovate to spatulate, and oppositely arranged. They are dark green and leathery and may have either entire or slightly toothed margins. The fruit is a flat red drupe that turns black when mature. The berries provide a feast for many birds and other wildlife, while the shrub itself provides good nesting cover. Is deer resistant. Is a host plant for the spring azure butterfly (Celastrina ladon).
Great substitute for the non-native Loropetalum, Indian Hawthorne, and Boxwood.
Not salt tolerant of inundation by salty or brackish water. Low to no tolerance of salty wind or direct salt spray.
This plant in 3-gallon containers is 1.5 – 2 feet tall.
Plant Lore: Scarab beetles of the genus Cetonia are particularly interesting viburnum pollinators, possessing branched hairs on their bodies that are similar to pollen-collecting hairs found on bees. These hairs ensure a better chance of cross-pollination for self-sterile viburnum species. The name Walter’s viburnum honors Thomas Walter (1740-89), English-born planter of South Carolina, who described the species Viburnum obovatum in his Flora Caroliniana.
Florida Hardiness Zones 8 – 10
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