Viburnum "Shasta"

I really like this plant. However, see the comment by V V in Plant Files:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/76468/index.html

How can I tell if the two plants I get are cloned from a different source? Or can I use any Viburnum that blossoms at the same time as Shasta?

Any two plants sold as "Shasta" will be incompatible. Any other cultivar of Viburnum plicatum tomentosum, such as the ones listed by VV, will cross pollinate with"Shatsta" and hence produce the attractive fruit and pedicel display.

Scott

Thank you, Decumbent. I wonder how many people have Shastas and others that never berry. A long-established area nursery as well as internet sellers told me I didn't need any other Viburnums of any kind. Fortunately I had read VV's note so I knew I had to inquire further. I wonder how many people have Shastas and others that they think are disappointing plants for not fruiting when they just don't have the right pollinators? hooray for DGers!

Yeah, this is a problem with the Viburnum brood. Technically, the people who have got this wrong, have got it right. This isn't a male/female issue, it's a self-imcompatibility issue...but not a (ahem) perfect one. Even a lone viburnum will occassionally set a fruit or two. But to get those awesome, knock your socks off fruit displays, you've really got to carefully select another cultivar that is closely related to your other plant and of a provenance that will have it bloom at the same time. It's a little complicated, and therefore not the sort of thing that normal, busy people bother to sort out. Ironically, nursery people might be the worst people to quiz about this, because most nurseries are full of dozens of viburnums, all blooming their heads off, and therefore the bountiful fruit happens without any thought or effort at all. It is only once the plants leave the nursery to start a new life in suburbia that the issue rears its ugly head and at this point the gardener probably feels they screwed something up.

Scott

Hmmm. I have a Mohawk Viburnum, which I love, but it has never had any fruit (it is six years old). Nearby is a Pink Dawn, which also has never set fruit. I would like to have them fruit! How do I know which other Viburnums are compatible? I see that the Mohawk is x. Burkwoodii, and the Pink Dawn is Bodnant so do I look for those designations? (Pls forgive if I use the wrong words, I am very new to this). Thanks.

Wow, I planned on filling one 6x6 spot with one viburnum. Now I gotta get two? And figure out which one pollinates which? OK, I'm game! Where do I start? Within the same family?

Darbyo,

Any other V. x burkwoodii cultivar, and maybe even a V. carlessii or V. x juddii should cross with your "Mohawk" to produce fruit. Be forewarned, however, that the so-called fragrant viburnums never really produce the abundance and color of fruit of some of the other groups such as V. dilatatum, V. dentatum, and the V. opulus/trilobum/sargentii group.

Scott

Thank you Decumbent, that is good to know. I planted bareroot V. carlessi in another part of the garden a couple of years ago, and they are just now 3 feet tall. I will transplant one of them near the Mohawk and see what happens. I do love fragrant plants!

Okay, please help this newbie .... I'm going to plant a Rusty Blackhaw Viburnum next spring (it will get full day sun). Do I need to buy something else to insure that it gets pollinated and fruits?

Carla

Carla:

Unless one of the following is planted nearby, you should plant one to get the best fruit production from your Rusty Blackhaw:

--Another V. rufidulum(Rusty Blackhaw) that is genetically different(NOT a cutting from the same plant as your planted Viburnum)
--V. prunifolium
--V. lentago
--V. x jackii
--V. cassinoides

Since I am not sure of these plants in Zone 8, your best bet is another of the Rusty Blackhaws. Just make sure they aren't the same cultivar or cuttings from the same plant. They need to be of different genetics.

Thanks Kevin. I've been reading through the archives re:Viburnum. I don't have a lot of space in my small suburban yard for several Viburnum, but based on what others recommended (mainly asking a neighbor to plant 1 or 2), I'm going to talk to my next door neighbor about planting one. I'm sure she won't mind .... if I choose it, buy it, and plant it for her. :-)

Thanks again for the advice. Viburnums are a tricky business.

Carla