CRANBERRY VIBURNUM (Viburnum trilobum)
Height: 6 to 10 feet
Spread: 6 to 10 feet
Bloom Time: May to June
Bloom Description: White
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Suggested Use: Hedge
Flower: Showy
Tolerate: Clay Soil, Black Walnut
Attracts: Birds, Butterflies, Pollinators Use: Wildlife and pollinator
This great shrub puts on a magnificent floral display, followed by a profusion of deep red berries that climaxes into a great fall color display. Thrushes, Cedar Waxwings, and robins flock to this shrub and are the primary seed carriers. The plant is a vital component in the lives of many wildlife species and is the host plant to 94 species of butterflies and moths in Jefferson County.
The berries can be used to make jams and jellies, but competition to get the berries is stiff with the wildlife. Thomas Jefferson loved cranberry viburnum and tried to find ways to capitalize on all of its great features. The Quaker Peter Collinson stated that this shrub was worth every cent spent on it as it returned investment to the buyer every season.