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ademink_gw

Pink Dawn Viburnum BLOOMING! eek!

ademink
12 years ago

Crazy weather here in Indy and my viburnum is blooming!!! What does this mean for the long-term health of the shrub? crazy!

Comments (10)

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    12 years ago

    probably nothing.. you have to work pretty hard to kill a viburnum .. and i wouldnt be surprised that even if it died to the ground.. it wouldnt come back with guns ablazin' ... crimminey.. and armed viburnum.. lol ..

    happy new year

    ken

  • flora_uk
    12 years ago

    If this is Viburnum x bodnantense 'Dawn' it is supposed to flower from Autumn to early Spring in mild periods. Perfectly normal so worries on that score. Frost may damage the flowers but more will come and the shrub will not be harmed.

    Here is a link that might be useful: 'Dawn'

  • ademink
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    I didn't know that, flora! Thanks for the info.

    Ken...lol...armed...

  • viburnumvalley
    12 years ago

    I think flora_uk popped the bubbly early - the link provided is to this thread.

    Here's two cents from the Ohio River valley experience with this winter blooming shrub.

    Viburnum x bodnantense 'Dawn' (Viburnum farreri x Viburnum grandiflorum) was hybridized in 1934 in Wales, at the Bodnant Gardens. Pink Dawn is a synonym for 'Dawn' - not a valid name.

    I don't know how long ademink has had this plant, but the description of events is just normal behavior for 'Dawn' in this part of the world where we have winter temperature fluctuations. My big momma plant has been in the ground since around 2000 - it sometimes throws blooms around Thanksgiving if we have a warm spell in central KY. It currently has a smattering of blooms open, as do the smaller plants lined out in my wee nursery.

    'Dawn' will continue on this way all winter, unless it stays below freezing - which is almost never around here. There will be a peak bloom period, but never at a set time. Here at the Valley, it is usually late February or early March around about the time that my Cornus mas get fired up.

    What does this all mean? Cut branches to take indoors, and enjoy the fragrance for a few more days! The open flowers on the plant will likely all freeze and brown, but the cold doesn't damage the dormant leaf buds or otherwise. There is still a possibility to have flowers in spring if there are flower buds that have not swelled/opened.

  • ademink
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    There are indeed some still unopened and it's getting cooooold out there! Thanks much for the additional info, VV!

    I want to find a pollinator for the ol' girl now. As I'm reading, it appears that 'Charles Lamonte' is just a clone, as opposed to a different variety.....soooooo.....???

    I am also reading that only the females set berries...so how do I know if I have a girl or a boy...and what do I buy....and and and and..............

    ...........perhaps I'll just enjoy the blooms and forget the berries. LOL

  • viburnumvalley
    12 years ago

    You're just out to turn my crank today.

    I'm going to have to come up there, and parse what you are using for references. Need to get you on the right track...

    'Charles Lamont' (along with 'Deben') are clonal selections of Viburnum x bodnantense, and are genetically different from 'Dawn'. As long as these are blooming at the same time as 'Dawn' (and they should) and there are pollinating insects active, you should have satisfactory pollination. You could also use Viburnum farreri or one of its selections, since it should overlap in bloom time and it is one of the parents of the Bodnant Viburnum hybrid.

    This is just the same as having two (different) clones of Viburnum dentatum - similar plants, but not identical, and overlapping bloom time with insect activity.

    Hit "DELETE" on the male/female idea - who in the world printed that? All Viburnums can set fruit, except the ones with inflorescences composed solely of showy florets and no fertile flower parts. Examples are the snowball types of Viburnum plicatum f. plicatum and the Giant Chinese Snowball Viburnum (V. macrocephalum 'Sterile').

    Viburnums as a genus are monoecious, having both male and female flower parts in their flowers - I think that also can be referred to as perfect (help, biologists or botanists, on proper terminology). They are just - as a genus, not necessarily every single species or individual plant - poorly self-fertile. That can be said to be basically self-incompatible, doing better at outcrossing than inbreeding.

    I have read more than a few times (here and elsewhere) about individual Viburnum plants that are fruitful, as well as some odd pairings of various species producing decent fruit crops. I never say never, but it is likely that most gardeners are only going to experience the potential that Viburnums offer when they have two dissimilar but compatible plants to cross.

    If wishes were Viburnums - I'd go for practically any other pairing of plants for flowering, fruiting, foliage, form, and fall color than another Bodnant Viburnum. First of all, you'll likely need far less room. AND - you'll get another set of time frames filled with Viburnum vivacity.

  • ademink
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    HAHAHA...Happy New Year, VV...I'm going to make you crazy! I have the disease of Google Referencitis!

    Yes, you are correct on the "perfect" choice of words for male/female. Believe it or not I was a Biology major and remember that portion of my Plant Morphology class. LOL

    Ok so perhaps I ditch the idea of a mate for ol' girl Dawn and go for a pair of something-elses. I can just let her flower and be purty in the Winter!

  • ademink
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    OR...perhaps use the space for another Cornus mas!!!

  • flora_uk
    12 years ago

    Sorry about the circular link! Sadly no bubbly involved I assure you - just ordinary incompetence. Here's what I meant to copy and paste. I have no Viburnum expertise like viburnumvalley but 'Dawn' is just so common over here that I know its habits.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Dawn

  • Embothrium
    12 years ago

    Some damage to flowers of 'Dawn' currently present here in western USDA 8.

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