Florida Flora Fridays: Walter's Viburnum

 

Welcome to the very first Florida Friday! The idea is that each Friday, I'll share a native plant, beginning with those I'm growing in the yard. There's so much to love about them! And if you think that only exotics can be beautiful, there are some awesome things ahead for you :) 

For the inaugural Florida Friday, we're going with Walter's Viburnum (and as Marcia pointed out on FB, because it's in my yard, it's technically Walter's Walter's Viburnum, lol). 

Walter's Viburnum (Virburnum obovatum)

According to the Florida Native Plant Society:

• It's a shrub or small tree native to Florida and the US Southeast.
• It can get 15 feet tall by 15 feet wide, but is easily kept smaller and makes a great hedge.
• It spreads by rhizomes/suckers and can be propagated by cuttings or seeds (but scarification is needed and seeds can take years to germinate).
• Technically deciduous, but it leafs out quickly after shedding its old leaves.
• It features dainty white flowers that mature into red drupes that turn black when mature and feed birds and other wildlife.
• It's a larval host for the spring azure butterfly (Celastrina ladon).
• It's a major pollinator food source, attracting everything from bees to beetles.
• Hurricane and wind-resistant.

This is a shot of the flowers I borrowed from FNPS. Credit to photographer Mark Hutchinson:

I planted these side by side just out from the fence. The pool enclosure is to the right. Eventually, they'll form a hedge, creating a "wall" between the area in the picture (what will become a small rain garden and sitting area) and the work area/greenhouse behind the pic. You can't see it, but there are two yaupon hollies planted on the other side of the Adirondack chairs that will each grow into miniature walls, allowing me to create two "rooms" here.