Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Charles Lamont’

Plant of the month: January

Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Charles Lamont’

Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Charles Lamont’ is a member of the Adoxaceae family and can be seen behind the Lawn Aviary.

This fine form of V. x bodnantense has bright pink clusters of very fragrant flowers at the ends of the bare stems. They make a welcome appearance in mid winter and last for many weeks.

Viburnums can be deciduous or evergreen, V. x bodnantense ‘Charles Lamont’ is deciduous and grows to 3m x 2m. Its new foliage is tinged bronze and it also colours well in the autumn. It was raised at Edinburgh Botanic Gardens in 1933 and received an Award of Garden Merit in 2002. It is fully hardy and is a very vigorous upright shrub.

There are many viburnums around the Gardens, look out for the deciduous scented varieties as well as the evergreen Viburnum davidii with the dark purple metallic looking berries on Wilson Walk.

Cultivation

Viburnums grow well in humus rich soil and can be propagated by semi-hardwood cuttings in summer.

They should be lightly pruned after flowering. As the plants get older it may be necessary to cut out a third of all stems to ground level to rejuvenate the plant over time. This has the added advantage of bringing the flower clusters closer to head height, so that the perfume can be appreciated. Following this drastic pruning the plants should be fed with a general purpose fertilizer and mulched to aid growth and reduce stress.