what is this white flowering shrub?

3 years ago

last modified: 3 years ago

what is this white flowering shrub? It is next to what I believe is a Chinese snowball? The previous owner planted them way too close. It is getting squished by the other tree.

Comments (12)

carol23_gw
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
It may be a Spiraea such as Spiraea cantoniensis.

https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/spiraea-cantoniensis/
Embothrium
3 years ago
Definitely a spirea. Should be easy to transplant when leafless.
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Thanks everybody for the feed back! I've got about 200 yards of a fence line that is on the edge of some woods that I'd like to slowly pull out the invasive exotics and replace with better plants. Background singers are important--if everything is a star nothing is a star. I have much use for a nice background singer that can take the mic for just a song or two then be unobtrusive for the rest of the season!
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carol23_gw
3 years ago
The other one looks like Viburnum plicatum f. plicatum,. Japanese snowball.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
3 years ago
they are both rather unruly shrubs ... they really arent going to look much better.. even if they were planted further apart .. lol ...

the snowball can be rejuvenation pruned.. on the 3 year cycle and kept a bit younger and better looking ...

the spirea you could chain to your bumper.. and drag it around the block twice. and replant it .. and it would barely notice ,,.. in another post... i said the same.. and embo said.. they can be cut near the ground every season ...

in other words... i wouldnt bother moving it.. id just take a machete to it once every year or two ...

btw.. both are full sun plants.. and if the trees have shaded them over.. since planting.. that might be why they arent quite as vigorous and full as they should be .. wispy.. not full and thick ..

ken
Mamaham_NC_Zone7
Original Author
3 years ago
Thank you. I will cut the spirea back to the ground after the season. Good to know you can’t really hurt it. it is definitely not getting full sun which is probably why it’s flowers aren’t that great And it doesn’t look so good. I don’t have anywhere else to put it, so I’ll just leave it there at least for now.

as for the snowball... it’s probably my lack of knowledge in knowing it needed pruning. I’ll read up on that. This is our third spring in this house and I’ve never done anything to it. So probably overdue. you are also probably right in that it could use more sun.
Mamaham_NC_Zone7
Original Author
3 years ago
All that said, I get lots of compliments on the snowball. Maybe they don’t know what’s it’s “supposed” to look like either. 😂
floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
3 years ago
Both are easy to grow from cuttings so you could make some more, plant them elsewhere and then take out one of the original ones in a few years time.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
3 years ago
check out a few of these ... ignore the shearing one .. and perhaps take out the word viburnum... its a shrub practice ... it doesnt change according to the plant ...

if peeps like your snowball ... then why fix what isnt broken ... but if you dont like it.. then the heck with what they think ...

they make nice cut flower displays... mom used to have me carry big sprays to put on the nuns desk when i got to school ... boy.. i hadnt though of that in a lot of years ...

ken

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=rejuvenation+pruning+viburnum&t=ffnt&iax=videos&ia=videos
Mamaham_NC_Zone7
Original Author
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
@floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK if only I had the space to grow a new one elsewhere. I don't really have any full sun spaces and definitely not one for this shrub. I am trying to find a place to squeeze in a rose bush. Good to know that they can be started easy. My friend loves it and wants one. I will try to get her a cutting to start.

@ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5 I do like the snowball, but now that I know what it is, I see others that definitely have bigger snowballs. But that said, I don't think mine will do that as it does not get enough sun as you previously said. It pretty much just gets morning sun as it's on east side of house. I will try to trim it up a bit once it is done blooming. I love it but it is a little unruly at present. Thanks for the pruning videos. I'm a newbie gardener and pruning still makes me nervous.
Mamaham_NC_Zone7
Original Author
3 years ago

Beautiful but a little wild
floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
3 years ago
Glorious.

I didn’t realise you didn’t have the kind of huge USA yard I read about here. Take a bunch of cuttings to increase your chances.
Mamaham_NC_Zone7
Original Author
3 years ago
@floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK I have a decent size yard for where I live, but it is definitely not huge. I live in very urban area. Houses are all on top of one another. I could move out to suburbs or beyond, but we like being close to everything. My husband even walks to work and we hate commutes! Plus, most of the yard that I do have is shade. I'm thankful for the trees but I want more full sun to plant all the flowers I love. We also have privacy hedges on all sides for the close neighbors and they put off a lot of shade too. oh well. you can't have it all.

I will have to look up how to take cuttings for this particular plant.... will have to wait, I already have too many garden projects in progress.