The Viburnum plicatum ‘Mary Milton’, shown here, is one of the rare viburnums that offer such beautiful pink blooming.
Viburnum plicatum facts
Name – Viburnum plicatum ‘Mary Milton’
Family – Adoxaceae (formerly Caprifoliaceae)
Type – shrub
Height – 10 feet (3 meters)
Exposure – full sun or part sun
Soil – ordinary, well drained
Foliage – deciduous
Flowering – May to October
A spring-blooming shrub, it decorates gardens and terraces in a most elegant manner.
Planting Viburnum plicatum
It is best to plant your Viburnum plicatum or Japanese snowball in fall to favor root development before winter and renewed growth in spring.
This will lead to quick blooming.
However, if purchased in a pot or in a container, you can also plant in spring taking great care to water regularly at the beginning.
- The Mary Milton viburnum likes well drained soil.
- If growing it in pots, choose a good quality soil mix and ensure that water drains well.
- Follow our advice on planting shrubs.
Pruning Viburnum plicatum
It isn’t necessary to prune the plant, but it can be useful if you wish to reshape older specimens.
Wait for the blooming to end if you wish to reduce or reshape the shrub.
- Refer to our guidelines on how to prune shrubs.
Learn more about Viburnum plicatum
Viburnum plicatum ‘Mary Milton’ is a very beautiful shrub, and its blooming in spring is as wonderful as its foliage in fall.
As part of a flowered hedge, as a standalone or in shrub beds, its growing and maintenance is easy.
It has the advantage of being hardy and provides pollen and nectar for honeybees for their greatest joy in early spring.
Some of the most famous Viburnum plicatum are ‘Watanabe’ and ‘Mariesii’.
Also part of the Viburnum family is laurestine, often found in our gardens.
Smart tip about Viburnum plicatum
Avoid locations that are too exposed to harsh sun. It’s best to plant it where a tree or taller shrub will protect it for part of the day if you live in hot regions. In cooler places it can cope well with full sun.
Viburnum plicatum ‘Mary Milton’ needs relatively cool soil to develop well. Try to surround it yearly with organic materials to ensure this.
I have a Japanese snowball and the plant was doing very well until they plowed down all the trees beside my property that was supplying some shade for it now it’s in full sun and leaves are turning fall like color! The plant is still too young to produce flowers. I planted it in early spring this year. I was wondering and trying to find out: do they lose their foliage through winter? The leaves are turning and getting very crisp what do I do ?
Hello Rachel! In temperate climates, Japanese snowball loses its leaves in fall since it is a deciduous shrub. If you’re in the Northern hemisphere, it’s quite normal then that it would be losing its leaves.
However, there is a chance that your shrub took in more sun than it could handle, especially if it was used to growing in the shade. In the end, it should be able to cope with it but it’ll need some time to adjust. You can make the transition easier by hanging a swath of shade netting above it so that it’s covered for part of the day. For example, a square a yard or meter across held up by four tall tomato stakes directly in line with the midday sun above it, at about 6 feet or 1.8 meters high. Make the transition gradual by folding some of the cloth back every week, until after a month or a month in a half it’s in full sun: the plant will have adjusted its leaf and root system by then and should be fine in full sun.
In a way, it’s a form of transplant shock, so by recreating shading and then slowly removing it you’re making easier for the plant to adjust to new conditions.