This was in the yard of my father-in-law's neighbor. It appears to have opposite arranged leaves with white flowers still holding on. The leaves were tough and leathery. Is this a type of dogwood? No other DWs have their leaves still on that I know of here in MA (much less their flowers)
It's a type of evergreen to semi-evergreen Viburnum.
That's probably Viburnum x rhytidophylloides, a selection like 'Alleghany' is the most common.
This species can commonly blast flowers late in the season - it normally flowers in late spring.
I like the evergreen quality of this one. You get a better bang for your buck with it. Our Viburnums are gorgeous but stubbly for 5 months.
If you plant two different clones of this ('Alleghany' and 'Willowwood', for example) then you will be rewarded not only with prolific flowering and resplendent extended foliage, but also with outrageous fruit production and display.
Here are some images of Viburnum x rhytidophylloides performance at the Valley...
The berries look like candy... are they edible? I know so little about Viburnums.
Indeed they are - and taste good when fully ripe, when they darken to blue/black. Taste like little prunes.
When bright red like this, they are probably pretty sour/tart.
I just figured out, after much research and inspection of my Viburnum rhytiodphylloides, that mine is Willowwood. This is its third year, and it's really strutting its stuff. It is still quite beautiful. The leaves have a tinge of blue green, flowers are still doing well, and its stature is really upright. I enjoy seeing it everyday out of my bedroom window. It's almost the only green thing out there--such a welcome and pleasant sight.
Great thread people. I love finding new stuff! It sucks in the winter with no leaves and very little sunlight up here. Plus the frigid cold, howling wind, unending snow... Ugh...
It's beautiful now though. So I'm going outside!
Plant more evergreen Viburnum species and selections - and every kind of Holly!
These are tailor-made for your winter doldrums, and long time tested in eastern Massachusetts.
I have a V. dilatatum 'Asian Beauty' that still has all its leaves. It was started as a cutting this summer but I don't know if the parent has it's leaves still. I'll have to look the next time I get in the back yard when it's light. My 'Allegheny' viburnums have yellowing leaves right now and about 40% are still green. My 'Mohican' are still fully green as well as my straight species, v. rhytidophyllum.
