{"id":10287,"date":"2019-06-11T12:00:40","date_gmt":"2019-06-11T16:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/?p=10287"},"modified":"2019-05-20T11:26:21","modified_gmt":"2019-05-20T15:26:21","slug":"summersweet-shrub-underplanted-and-underappreciated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/2019\/06\/11\/summersweet-shrub-underplanted-and-underappreciated\/","title":{"rendered":"Summersweet Shrub – Underplanted And Underappreciated"},"content":{"rendered":"
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‘Pink Spire’ clethra<\/p><\/div>\n

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‘Hummingbird’ clethra<\/p><\/div>\n

Summersweet clethra (Clethra alnifolia<\/em>), aka sweet pepperbush, is a deciduous summer blooming shrub that ranges from coastal Maine to Florida (USDA hardiness zones 4-8).\u00a0This delightful shrub\u00a0grows 3-6 feet, although some cultivars grow 8 feet or higher. Flower colors (depending on variety) range from white, pink, and rose pink.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0sweetly fragrant flower clusters (\u00a04- 6 inches long racemes) are visited by multitudinous bees, a few butterflies, as well as by gardeners. When in bloom, the area is “a buzz” with\u00a0bee activity lasting approximately 4 weeks in July and August.<\/p>\n

Flowers give way to dark brown seed capsules that often persist through winter. The glossy dark green leaves (to 4 inches long) develop foliage\u00a0shades of yellow to golden brown, which may linger for several weeks in autumn.<\/p>\n

Summersweet is easy to grow in either full to partial sunlight and in average soil that is well- drained and mildly pH acidic.\u00a0This native shrub\u00a0thrives in wet sites and is both heat and cold tolerant.\u00a0It\u00a0tolerates dry soils\u00a0after a two year period of establishment, but grows best and produces the greatest number of flowers when watered regularly. Avoid the hot afternoon sun in southern climes. Once a year feeding\u00a0in late winter with a slow-release fertilizer such as Osmocote\u2122 or Nutrikote\u2122 is sufficient.<\/p>\n

Summersweet is mostly disease- and pest-free. Pruning, if needed, should be\u00a0done in late winter before spring growth begins. Little pruning is generally needed,\u00a0unless it has outgrown its space.\u00a0Every 5-6 years consider cutting shrub(s)\u00a0to the ground in late fall. This tough reliable\u00a0 plant will bloom the following summer.\u00a0Summersweet spreads by rhizomes and suckers; remove unwanted plants at any time.<\/p>\n

Selected cultivars to try:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018Hummingbird\u2019 is a 3- 3 \u00bd foot tall compact form with deep green summer foliage<\/p>\n

\u2018Rosea\u2019 is a popular pink flowering form with pink flowers that fade to white.<\/p>\n

\u2018Ruby Spice\u2019 bears deep rose pink 3 \u00bd – 4 inch flowers; it grows into a 6 – 8 foot tall shrub.<\/p>\n

\u2018Sixteen Candles\u2019 bears larger 4 – 6 inch long flowers that stand upright and do not flop like most cultivars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summersweet clethra (Clethra alnifolia), aka sweet pepperbush, is a deciduous summer blooming shrub that ranges from coastal Maine to Florida (USDA hardiness zones 4-8).\u00a0This delightful shrub\u00a0grows 3-6 feet, although some cultivars grow 8 feet or higher. Flower colors (depending on variety) range from white, pink, and rose pink. The\u00a0sweetly fragrant flower clusters (\u00a04- 6 inches […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[444,1218,747,1319,749,605,674,645,806,665,1012,853,551,1476,627,843,812,601,729,777,1210,630,706,646,1184,7,113,455],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10287"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10287"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11682,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10287\/revisions\/11682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}