I wish I could tell you yes. I planted a Viburnum year ago that is now huge and in the wrong place. Mostly because I didn't pay close enough attention and partially because of health issues that have kept me out of the yard for almost seven years. Sigh. I will be following.

I don't have any compact cultivars of viburnum -- does such a thing even exist? The smallest I have is "Koreanspice", which is relatively compact compared to the other viburnums but is not a small shrub. The fragrance!!

I also have "Mohawk" -- The fragrance!! These are tough puppies, most of mine are down by the road with no supplemental water from me beyond initial establishment and it never misses a beat, foliage is impeccable. The ones down by the road don't flower much, probably because they're in much more shade compared to the one up by the house (that one blooms reliably and beautifully. The fragrance!!)

I had to take out my V. dentatum specimens -- they got wrecked by the viburnum beetles.

Here's a link that lays which are which when it comes to resistance to the beasts: Viburnum Leaf Beetle (VLB), Cornell University

I have but don't particularly like the "Doublefile" (V. plicatum). The reason I'm not a fan is the branching structure -- the branches tends toward horizontal and it kinda reminds me of a cartoon ghost, especially when it's a little droopy from lack of moisture.

I had V. trilobum (Cranberry viburnum) at my first house, some 25+ years ago. I don't recall it ever flowering -- maybe it did but if so didn't have much of an impact on me because I can't remember. I also don't remember the name of the cultivar, though in relation to the species it was compact, maybe around 5-6' or so. I do recall that the foliage was quite nice, though, and the cultivar I had had a tidy plant habit.

I planted a viburnum nudum Brandywine for a customer a few years ago and I loved it. Hardy, low-maintenance, nice fall color and beautiful berries. I finally got one for myself and just planted it last week, so it's a small little thing. I actually have a second one, just purchased last fall via mail-order and doing very well in a large pot. This one seems to be growing a bit sideways lol, so I bought the second one to put in that visible spot and I will plant this one in a less visible place. So overall I've only had about 5 years experience with them, but so far so good and I'm looking forward to my little ones growing.

I also planted a viburnum...... Winterthur, I think it was, for this customer, and it was huge! But beautiful, and again, low-maintenance. Didn't seem to berry much, although there were plenty of flowers. I always wondered if the birds got to the berries before I saw most of them.

Might have some photos to post but at the moment I'm late for a hot date at a Halloween party with two three-year-olds lol. Will check later to see if I have pics.

:)

Dee

Doublefile viburnum, V. plicatum, is my favorite. It does require some room as it grows more horizontally than vertically and can get wide. But there are very few shrubs that can match it for attractiveness when in flower. Gets gorgeous fall color too!

I very much appreciate your many detailed posts. I am learning lots.

I don't have any compact cultivars of viburnum -- does such a thing even exist?

Sounds lots like "Ninebarks" of which I have some experience i.e. any Ninebark advertised as "compact" is a fib ;).

because of health issues that have kept me out of the yard for almost seven years.

@cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA), I hope there will be soon a positive resolution to your health concerns that will allow you back to your garden.

Rouge – I have Viburnum opulus 'Nanum' - Dwarf European Cranberry Bush / European Cranberrybush – mine came with me from the old house in 2010. I planted it out-of-the way until I could sight it somewhere else. I haven’t moved it yet – but lost a wee bit of it to allow a fence to pass through - it’s very hardy and compact. I think I once saw a flower but can’t swear to it. These photos are from June 2023 – I will take some others soon and pass them on.

Many of the full-sized viburnums can be gradually limbed up and grown as multi-stemmed trees. I've done this with many species, most notably Viburnum prunifolium.

No time to get a pic but I'm really happy with 'Moonlit Lace', which is a V. davidii x V. tinus hybrid. Turns bright red in the winter but then after last year's colder than normal temps, they seemed to fall off and quickly be replaced. No stem loss. Mediterranean V. tinus grows fine in the south; V. davidii might be a tad hardier, but coming from a near subtropical highland climate in China, like various rhododendrons, it is supposedly prone to root rot down there. So the hybrid seems to make a plant that captures the looks of both and is fully zone 7 hardy and fully 'southern climate' hardy!

I was going to post an update on the U Delaware botanical garden a few days ago, but figured, why bother. Anyhoo it's interesting that, now that they've very inexplicably cleared away some of their most ornamental shrubs, the fact there was an old V. tinus in that garden all along, that I never knew about, was revealed. I've lost at least 2 of those, so I think it must be one of the northernmost on the east coast. I've certainly never seen them at any other regional garden. The deep alcoves of Townsend Hall protect it well. https://maps.app.goo.gl/E7NEXHTjd4BDZBwdA

It's "all the way in" on the southern alcove.

But seeing both, I'm fine with the hybrid, it's equally or more attractive.

Hey Dee, I have had 3 different Ninebarks and each one exceeded their stated dimensions...the most recently being "Lemon Candy".

Oh rouge, how sweet of you. Nothing life-threatening, I am happy to say. I had my left knee replaced three years ago (4?) after two years of increasing pain (it takes so darn long to get the doctors/insurance to trust you and order all the necessary tests-once my PCP ordered the tests, the ortho had me in surgery a week later-adore that guy)). Then, just when I felt that I could start gardening again, Same thing with my right knee. Last summer, I ordered ~200 plugs of native plants for our front yard. Planned to solarize the grass and weeds and start planting about now. Ha. My PCP was a bit quicker this time. Had my second replacement done on Sept 4th, but it is taking me longer to heal and feel better this time, so I changed the plug delivery to spring. Should be fine by then. Just have to find someone to cover the weeds with the brown paper and compost.

Phew-more than you wanted to know I bet. Anyway, I appreciate your thoughts and this thread so much.

cyn427 glad to hear you are on the road to recovery! I bet those 200 plugs are keeping you motivated lol!

rouge, I've got three ninebarks, one of which is a Summer Wine Black that I planted spring of 2024 and is a bit slow to get going. I bought two others, whose names escape me at the moment. One is a bright green foliage, and the other might be a Ginger Wine -a total impulse buy even though I already had the dark-foliaged Summer Wine Black. Both of these other shrubs are in a holding bed - what was supposed to be a temporary planting over last winter lol. They'll spend another winter there and then I need to decide where they go. I guess I should give them a bit more room than planned, although with my luck they will underperform and I'll have gaping holes lol.

:)

Dee

off topic

There are probably quite a few of us whose knees wore out unexpectedly or pedictably and are nodding in sympathy. Not TMI, but an opportunity to remember gratitude for a vast improvement in the quality of our lives.

and, encourage others whose lives limited by deteriorating knees, hips hips, shoulders to at least get an evaluation from your PCP and a referral to an orthopedist. i would not be walking or gardening without my ”newer” knees.

My Ninebark is also Summer Wine and I think it has reached the height and width I expected and it was slow to get there. Two years ago I gave it some Plant tone - for the first time and it responded well and filled out a little more and looked great. It's about 6-7ft tall and wide and turning such a pretty color burgundy/red right now.

In my experience, you can have a compact ninebark with the help of deer.

Lol kitasei! Sad but true! So far in 30 years the most damage deer have done is trample on things, mostly in spring, as they follow their path through my yard. My fingers are in a permanently crossed position lol!

:)

Dee

@kitasei2, never were truer words ever spoken!

No deer here ... and thankfully the rabbits are not interested!

Here is the hybrid 'Moonlit Lace' I mentioned.

In semi-shade, it still forms a basically rounded bun shape w/no pruning. The Lithocarpus henryi that @Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A gave me is in the background.

Dee, more like demented than motivated. ;-) . What in the world was I thinking?

I have at least half a dozen different viburnums and they are very reliable shrubs around here. For a compact one, I really love the dwarf European cranberrybush, viburnum trilobum 'Compactum'.

(This is not the same as 'Nanum'. 'Nanum' is a smaller variety that I have not tried, but reportedly it seldom flowers.)

I have several 'Compactums' which vary in height from 3 to 5 ft. They have large flat white flowers in the spring, which are followed by attractive red berries. In the fall, like right now, they turn beautiful reddish colors. I have found this plant difficult to find at garden centers. It may take new ones several years to reach the point where they flower. All my viburnums seem to need more water than your average shrub.

UpperBayGardener - Moonlit Lace does have a compact habit and nice glossy foliage, but it wouldn't be fully hardy at the OP's location.

Viburnum opulus 'Nanum' is cold hardy and stays very compact, but according to this link from Oregon State "Generally produces few, if any, flowers or fruit"

Nancy - Viburnum trilobum 'Compactum', which is probably better referred to as "Compact American Cranberry Viburnum" (rather than European), is a nice variety, densely branched and compact. It should be noted that both V. opulus and trilobum are susceptible to viburnum leaf beetle.

There are a few compact varieties of Doublefile Viburnum, including Newport and Wabi Sabi, but I have no experience with them.

There are also compact varieties of Koreanspice Viburnum, like Compactum and Spice Baby, but they may grow 4-5' tall or more over time.

I have V. cassinoides Lil' Ditty, which stays relatively low, but does throw out an occasional "wild hair" that needs to be pruned out. Mine is about 3-3.5' high by 5-6' wide. Photo yesterday (10/31/25):

Arbordave - fair enough! I took rouge's post as an invitation to discuss the genus generally! I did, previously, state it was a zone 7 hardy plant.

Although you are now reminding me that Prague viburnum is considered one of the hardiest BLEs, and hasn't been mentioned so far. Most sources rate in zone 5 hardy but of course I have no first hand experience.

Rouge - I only have one Viburnum left in my yard. I just added two more, but, they were small inexpensive pots so I don't mind taking a chance on them and I've already seen the Fall color which I would really like to have. I tried probably 4 different varieties when I first started working on the shrub border in my yard...years ago. I ended up having a problem in one way or another with all of them. I do have a Highbush Cranberry that I still have that has lasted, but it does get the Viburnum beetle. This year wasn't too bad. It's not all that tall. Maybe 7ft and I trim it to a little lower than that. It takes a good deal of shade and berries a little. I bought another one and I hope there is more sun where I'm putting it to get more flowers and berries.

I had a maresii - that has the horizontal branching and that was very nice, and I don't remember what happened to it. I had one called 'Red Wings' that one was amazingly fast growing and large. I just couldn't find a good place for it. I had a carlesii - and that one was susceptible to the beetle. Still...the fragrance was amazing. Nothing quite smells like that. It deteriorated over years due to the beetle and I let it go. But...that is one that I want to get again. I see that Bluestone Perennials has one called 'Mohawk' that is a carlesii hybrid that is supposed to be excellent and I hope to get a few of those in the spring.

So, I guess I have an ambivalent relationship with Viburnums. I would have expected them to do better for me but they didn't for various reasons. But, if you are not spending a fortune, you can enjoy them for 5 years and if something about them is bugging you, you can replace them. That's at leasts my philosophy at this point. They are too good of a shrub for birds to ignore them, to my way of thinking.

I took rouge's post as an invitation to discuss the genus generally!

@UpperBayGardener (zone 7) you are definitely correct! Thank you et al for these so informative posts.

"...more like demented than motivated. ;-) . What in the world was I thinking?..."

Lol, cyn, how many times have most of us said that when our bulb orders come in?

:)

Dee

I planted a Shasta Viburnum and a Velveteeny Smokebush and a Fireside Ninebark along a fence . I loved the Fall colors. Have I made a mistake Shenandoah Valley Lexington VA. thank you for any advice . c

@rouge21_gw (CDN Z5b/6a) I added spirea also and they are really blooming well now.

I just looked at forecast and we are in shirt sleeves today with wind then Friday rains and Monday next week they say 24°!!!! Shenandoah Valley 7b we don’t get that usually ever or only Feb. Things are messed up

I added spirea also and they are really blooming well now.

Hello @Still trailing. I added two different spireas this past season...my first spireas in the garden ever...very exciting :)

• 2 "Double Play Doozie" (Proven Winners)
• 3 "Candy Corn" (PW)

I added Double Play also! i cant remember the others . My hydrangeas will have to be covered Sunday…. i unfortunately have the ones that bloom on old wood… 👎