Viburnum cassinoides5-6' × same. Also called Appalachian Tea, Raisinberry or Witherod.
Rounded arching dense suckering native shrub. Creamy white flowers with yellow stamens on 2–5" flat-topped cymes bloom from spring to early summer.
Highly desired for its edible fruit, which turns from green to pink to red to blue before finally turning black in September. Fruiting clusters feature several colors at the same time. Best eaten when nearly dried out on the branch, if you can get to it before the birds! Foliage, once used in tea, emerges bronze or purple tinted, turning dark green when mature and then orange-red, dark crimson and purple in fall.
Withe is from the old English meaning a tough, flexible twig used to bind things together. Witherod is pronounced withe-rod, not wither-rod.
Although monoecious (male and female flowers on the same plant), viburnums tend to be self-sterile: plant more than one for fruit. Sun to partial shade. Very rugged: adapts to dry or wet sites. Native to eastern North America. Z3. (9-18" bare-root plants)
Items from our perennial plants warehouse ordered
on or before March 7 will ship around March 26
through late April, starting with warmer areas and finishing in
colder areas. Orders placed after March 7 will
ship around late April through early-to-mid May, in the order in
which they were received.
ships in spring
7581
Northern Wild Raisin
Additional Information
Highbush Cranberries and Other Viburnums Viburnum spp.
The Viburnum genus encompasses more than 150 different
species, which can
range from dense shrubs lush with green foliage to more open
and rangy small
trees. Viburnums are prized for their multi-season interest,
with blossom,
berry and foliage varying by species. Flowers attract many
butterflies and
other early-season pollinators in spring. Ripening berries,
some edible for
humans, put on a show of color throughout the summer.
All the Viburnums we offer are important wildlife plants,
native to eastern
North America.
Growing Viburnums
Soil: Adaptable, but in moist rich
well-drained soil
they will take on a fuller shape.
Sun: Full sun to part shade.
Pollination: Plant multiples of the
same species for
best fruit set.
Pest Control: Viburnum leaf beetle
(Pyrrhalta
viburni) has become a problem in some
areas. The larvae
overwinter on twigs and can defoliate shrubs in
spring and early summer.
They seem to prefer Arrowwood, but we have seen them
do a number on Wild
Raisin and Nannyberry. Prune out and burn any
egg-infested twigs in
early spring before your shrubs are leafed out.
Spraying with
Spinosad in late April or early May when the
larvae first emerge
can also help. Timing is key—spraying eggs or
adult beetles is
less effective.
Small Trees and Shrubs
As Green’s Nursery catalog from 1904 explains, “There are many trees that by pruning can be made to resemble shrubs, and many shrubs that by different pruning may be made to produce medium-sized trees.”
