New Viburnum from US National Arboretum

Viburnum 'Nantucket'

Viburnums are among the great success stories to come out of the US National Arboretum's shrub-breeding program.  And now, here's the 20th cultivar ... 'Nantucket," and it's surely another winner. 

It has pure white, large and fragrant flowers, 4 to 5 inches across.  The shrub is literally covered with flowers when it blooms in May.  The dark green leaves are semi-evergreen, and the shrub reaches a size of 12 feet tall and 7 feet wide at age 16.  It's also hardy zones 6-8, so it's even a candidate for coastal areas of New England.

Arboretum research geneticist Margaret Pooler said her favorite attributes of 'Nantucket' are "its flower display and its relatively compact habit." 

Pooler said the initial cross that created the shrub was made in 1988, "so it took 20 years to go from hybridizing to release."  Pooler noted that the Arboretum is not actively breeding viburnums any more, but there are several promising ones that are under evaluation. 

So if we're lucky, a few more may be released at a future date.  "The traits we look for," said Pooler, "include consistent flower display from year to year -- fragrance is a plus-- attractive foliage, disease and pest resistance, and a compact habit."

And for those of you who are interested in plant genetics, the original cross on 'Nantucket' was made in 1988 by the late Donald Egolf -- Viburnum 'Eskimo' x V. macrocephalum f. keteleeri.  'Eskimo' is the female parent, and it resulted from open pollinated seed that came from a cross of V. carlesii x  V. xcarlcephalum and V. utile.  The male parent came from seed collected in the wild by T. Dudley in Zhejiang Province, China, in 1980.

'Nantucket' likely won't be in retail centers until next year, as it is now in the hands of wholesale growers in several states across the country.  But if you're really lucky, you may spot it in a local nursery.  Designers will surely be using this plant not only as a stand-alone specimen, but it could also be used in the shrub border or in a mass planting as a hedge.  According to the Arboretum, it also does well as a container plant.

SO -- it takes these dedicated scientists years and years to bring us the plants we love and cherish.  I think the Arboretum plant-breeding program is certainly due for some of those stimulus funds.  Talk to your local representative.

(images: US National Arboretum)- click on image to enlarge.

Comments

[Pam Kersting]

WoW! Another viburnum! How exciting! Down here in southeastern NC which, btw, is a coastal community, we use V. suspensum (Sandankwa Viburnum), V. odoratissum (Sweet Viburnum), and V. tinus (Laurustinus Viburnum) alot -- all fabulous blooming evergreens for the south! Thanks for the information -- we'll be looking out for it!