When does Viburnum dentatum 'Blue Muffin' get large?

Hello,

I bought 2 Viburnum dentatum 'Blue Muffin' at a local Master Gardener's sale to use as small shrubs. Then I came across something (I think it may have been from VV) stating that these sometimes reach the full size of other Viburnum dentatum. Is this something that varies by plant, by conditions, or does it always happen eventually?

Thanks. -- Lori

Well, I can only offer my experience: Plan for a large shrub. This was planted a little over two years ago as a fairly small container plant. Its now over 5' (yes, its almost as tall as me) and seems to be picking up speed. This is the first year it has flowered heavily and I'm hoping fruiting is the same. Iv'e got a couple of other V. dentatum cultivars in a mixed border about 60' from this one, neither of which have been as vigorous as Blue Muffin. Not sure why, but most likely due to hotter/drier conditions. This one sure seems to be happy.

Bob

Thanks Bob. Hope mine end up looking as good as yours.

Lori

Could there be a bad looking viburnum? Say it ain't so...

I think (based on plants around here procured as Blue Muffin™) that this is basically a standard sized Viburnum dentatum, meaning reaching the 8-12' category. It may be denser than the average arrowwood, which would be nice, but I don't think it'll be smaller or much slower to these dimensions.

Of course, mileage may vary with your sun exposure, moisture regime, nutrition, animal browsing, etc.; that said, I don't think it rates as dwarf or even compact.

I always hold out the fact that anyone may have a mislabeled plant or maybe have been sold a bill of goods. I think I've read the plant patent description for 'Christom' (Blue Muffin™) and I don't recall it claiming to be a dwarf plant. Someone, feel free to correct this or cite the patent.

I am trialing all the potentially dwarf arrowwood selections that I can find here at the Valley; they are in no particular order:

Papoose™
var. compactum
Little Joe™
Raspberry Tart™
Blue Blaze™

There are probably more out there as we speak. I'll continue to report in as I observe their behavior and learn more.

Edited to add Blue Blaze above (thanks to Kevin).

This message was edited Jun 7, 2006 2:09 PM

VV,

You're right. My viburnum look fine, just not in flower. :)

I depend on the information on the the University of Connecticut Plant DB often, and it's usually accurate from what I can tell. In this case it looks like they're off since they describe Blue Muffin "a true dwarf that grows densely to 4' tall and wider".

Thanks for the list of dwarf and compact viburnum.

Lori

Proven Winners lists it as 60-84". Mine are in their third year now and are about five feet tall. This is the first year I had really nice blooms, but man did they STINK! Awful smell. When I think of the aroma of fresh muffins, this ain't it. My four year old son asked me what's wrong with it. I'm hoping I get nice fruiting and get to see it before the birds devour it.

Victor

Victorgardener, you got that right. I was boasting on another thread about the better than usual fragrance this spring for a variety of plants. Then Blue Muffin came along and fouled the place. I thought the cats had dragged something up from the barn (they do like to show off their catch of the day), but realized it was the Arrowwood. Many nice qualities, but this ain't one of them.

Little Joe is definitely a dwarf, as is Raspberry Tart. I have had them enough years to be able to say that with confidence. Unfortunately, they do not bloom at the same time, so they can't be used together to increase fruit production via cross pollination. Papoose and Blue Blaze haven't been here long enough to say one way or the other.

Off topic but I was at a garden in Chicagoland when I came around a corner and encountered what I first took for a lacecap hydrangea. But no - it was V. Onandaga in full bloom. Wow! what a gorgeous shrub. Purple tinged new foliage. The flowers were white around the crown and red in the center. Someone other than me will know the proper terminology. I am trying to root cuttings now. I hope it will be nearly as beautiful in part shade at the edge of the woods.

And I wish my Blue Muffies looked as good as Bob's. They are on a woodland hillside with part shade canopy over them. Much smaller than his picture. I don't expect them to be perfect but 8' is way more than the tag said - which was 4' x 4'. What a pain. Speaking of pain - I didn't think deer browsed viburnum flower buds but they nipped off everything they could reach on another arrowwood I've got. The only thing that is saving Bambi is that she is really Bambette and she's got a Bambino that frolics in our front yard for the kids. As soon as that little rascal can handle it they are outta here.

I planted two 'Blue Muffins' last spring. They were purchased at Home Depot so there is no way they could be mislabeled. ;-) In this picture they had been in the ground for about a month. You have to squint a bit to see the one toward the top of the hill.

- Brent

Here is a picture taken this spring, 10 months after the picture above. I would say that is pretty healthy growth. The fence is 4' tall.

- Brent

Brent has neglected to brag on the "bounce-back" abilities of his Blues. If I recall, he proudly displayed his arrowwoods sans foliage sometime last year (courtesy of some itinerant caterpillar), and needlessly worried whether they'd wither.

Obviously, not.

I think the only thing wrong with Brent's effort above is the paltry number of viburnums present. He could punt the azalea placeholders, and delete some of that time-consuming turf, and plant about thirty more four season wonders (aka Viburnum).

Thanks for all the good information! I never knew the aroma might be an issue with them. We'll plant them a bit further away from where we hang out most of the time.

alyrics, sounds like also received wrong information. Hope you have a good spot for them. Somehow DH is always moving plants around, so I guess I'm not as upset about having to move the one we planted already.

Lori

VV, at least thirty, maybe a hundred!

scott

I do not believe we can grow viburnum in southeast Louisiana. Would someone please post a photo of one for me?

Yep...VV is right. The Blue Muffin to the left in the picture was completely defoliated last summer by a gang of caterpillars. I freaked out, killed the caterpillars in a bucket of soapy water and started to plan for a replacement shrub. The Viburnum rebounded quickly and even put out a few blooms in the process. I am pretty sure that thread was over on "the dark side". I have been meaning to put together the pictures and post them over hear because it was a good learning experience for me.

Here are links to some of the pictures:
http://langdonweb.home.mindspring.com/posts/DSCF1730.JPG
http://langdonweb.home.mindspring.com/posts/DSCF1734.JPG

If you look closely at the first picture you can see some of the green wood stems that look to be a good 18" long. I think my Juddii and Blue Muffins are battling it out to see who can grow the fastest.

In the summer of 2004 I had zero Viburnums. These two planted in the spring of 2005 brought my count up to 7. They are great shrubs (though I have only gotten a few sparse blooms on my Shasta). I recently moved and I am back to my 2004 count of zero Viburnums. ;-(

- Brent

Liveoaklady, the rusty blackhaw viburnum is native to our area. I'm going to order some of those this fall.