07/28/2025
🌿 Clethra alnifolia (Summersweet)
This native shrub offers fragrant, late-summer blooms, thrives in moist soil and part shade, and supports pollinators like bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. A great choice for rain gardens, borders, or naturalized plantings.
🌸 Available Varieties — Come to Riverside and See Them in Bloom!
‘Sixteen Candles’ – A compact, upright form (3–4 ft tall) with strong white flower spikes that stand straight like candles. Perfect for tight spaces, foundation plantings, and smaller landscapes.
‘Ruby Spice’ – The only Clethra with vibrant rosy-pink blooms that hold their color well. Grows 4–6 ft tall. A showstopper for pollinator gardens with a strong, sweet fragrance.
‘Hummingbird’ – A dwarf variety (2–3 ft tall and wide) with white flowers and a dense, mounding habit. Excellent for borders, containers, or mass plantings. Despite the name, all Clethras attract hummingbirds!
🍂 All varieties develop golden-yellow fall foliage
🌎 Native, low maintenance, and hardy in USDA Zones 3–9
