Clethra alnifolia

Product Info

Sweet Pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia)
Clethra Family

Sweet Pepperbush is one of our few native shrubs that will bloom in almost total shade. Fragrant blooms are 6” racemes of white, nectar rich flowers, that open slowly over about a month in late summer. All sorts of pollinators can be seen visiting, but is a particular favorite of wasps. Attractive, disease-free leaves are a bright green that turn darker with age. Plants naturally grow in shady, moist woods and swamps. Ideal landscape conditions would be morning summer in rich, moist, soil, but it is adaptable to most conditions with the exception of very dry soils. This shrub will sucker heavily in ideal conditions, and can easily form a low hedge or thicket. Suckers are easily pulled if spreading is not desired.

Blooms: White, 4-5 weeks, July-August
Leaves: Dark green, simple, dense from the ground up to flowering stalks
Height:5-10’
Space: 3-5’
Soil: Average-Moist, fertile
Exposure: Part shade-Part sun-Shade
Fauna: Bees, wasps, hummingbirds, lepidoptera host plant
Seeds: Brown capsules are attractive to birds
Deer Resistance: High
Zone: 3-9
Native Status: NC native, common in the Coastal Plain
Provenance: NC, seed grown