Description
Arrowwood viburnum is one of the most adaptable native shrubs available, and Autumn Jazz is the selection grown for fall color. Viburnum dentatum Autumn Jazz turns a mix of yellow, orange, red, and burgundy in autumn, with several colors showing across the same plant. It grows 8 to 10 feet tall and 6 to 8 feet wide in full sun to part sun, hardy from Zone 3 through Zone 8, and fills out over three or four seasons.
Flat clusters of creamy white flowers open in late spring, followed by blue-black fruit in late summer that songbirds strip quickly. The flowers draw bees and butterflies, and arrowwood foliage feeds spring azure caterpillars.
The habit is upright and vase-shaped, more graceful than the species, which makes it useful as an informal screen or at the back of a border where you want structure rather than a solid wall.
Fruit set improves considerably with a second, different arrowwood variety nearby for cross-pollination. A single plant will flower but may set little or no fruit. Arrowwood tolerates a wide range of soils from wet to dry, takes clay, and handles urban conditions. Deer will browse it where pressure is heavy.
