Fothergilla: Planting and Care Tips for a Flowering Deciduous Shrub
The effusive spring froth of fothergilla flowers brightens shady green garden corners and sparkles when planted to catch the backlighting of morning or afternoon sunlight.
Photograph courtesy of Studio Krajobraz via Instagram.
Fothergilla’s invitingly fluffy flowers—white with exquisite chartreuse tips—appear on naked branches before they leaf out, making the shrubs especially striking. Their showy softness is all about their stamens: white filaments and yellow anthers.
Photograph by Marie Viljoen.
Dwarf fothergilla (Fothergilla gardenii) is native to the low coastal regions south of North Carolina.
Fothergilla gardenii
Photograph by lilbenne via Flickr.
Fothergilla major is a large shrub, sometimes exceeding 12 feet. Unlike dwarf fothergilla, this shrub is more tolerant of soils that are near-alkaline, and it can handle some drought stress too.
Fothergilla major
Photograph by jacki-dee via Flickr.
As the growing season closes, fothergilla shines.
“It is one of the great American native shrubs for fall color,” writes Michael Dirr, author of Manual of Woody Landscape Plants (a staple reference book for serious plant geeks).
Photograph by Nan via Flickr.
Regardless of whether it is planted in full sun or in semi-shade, fothergilla’s leaves will offer a wide and intense range of warm hues, from yellow to deep orange and red, often on the same plant.
Photograph by Dwight Sipler via Flickr.
Many of the fothergillas sold in the nursery trade actually may be a naturally occurring hybrid, Fothergilla x intermedia (only identified at a genetic level in 2007).
Fothergilla x intermedia
Photograph by Marie Viljoen.
Photograph by Lynn via Flickr.
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