Viburnum Common

Many of you are familiar with viburnum thanks to the wide distribution of Viburnum Common (Viburnum opulus). In the wild, it can be found in the forest at the edge or clearing. Viburnum is also grown in front gardens, near summer cottages, and even in urban plantings. 

 

However, there are other types of Viburnum. These are viburnum burejaeticum, viburnum furcatum, viburnum  dentatum, viburnum lantana), viburnum wrightii, viburnum sargentii.

One Viburnum Common grows in my garden and is an unpretentious shrub that responds with gratitude to the simplest care, giving in return bright flowering, lush autumn foliage and an abundance of beautiful and healthy fruits. 

My viburnum, like others, is very decorative. It blooms with its white, pinkish inflorescences. Flowering is long-lasting, sometimes extending for two to three weeks.

 

Viburnum has large, up to 12–15 cm in diameter, umbrella-shaped inflorescences, consisting of two types of flowers. 

I just recently learned that in the center of the “umbrella” there are small tubular fruiting flowers, from which berries are subsequently formed. And along the edge there are larger and brighter sterile ones, the main task of which is to attract pollinating insects.

 

All viburnums are good honey plants. In autumn, they are in the brightest colors from yellow to carmine red. One poet compared the viburnum bush to a burning campfire.

 

I know that the fruits of viburnum are edible. Their juicy red berries lose their tart bitterness after frosty days. Then I collect them, sometimes make jelly, jam, puree, and also dry the berries.

 

Do you have viburnum in your garden? What variety is it? Do you use its berries?

 My video about a park in Stockholm: