Here is a landmark shrub: elegant yet easy, extravagantly beautiful yet eager to earn its keep with tireless performances three seasons a year. From its lavish autumn rebloom to its striking fall color, steadfast pink flowers, and handsome horizontal branching, 'Molly Schroeder' is exceptiional. We are proud to offer it to Wayside gardeners this season, and we heartily recommend it for gardens from north to south as a specimen, the centerpiece of an accent planting, or a standout in the shrub border.
Its merits are numerous, so let us consider them season by season. Spring brings new dark green foliage, deeply scored in a symmetrical, almost pleated fashion, quickly followed by lacecap flowers of seashell-pink shading to cream at the base. The blooms are held in cymes 4 to 6 inches wide, and are so abundant that, borne along the horizontally layered branches, they form a ribbony wash of color, as if the entire shrub were enveloped in a particularly large garland, winding upward from the base! The inner circle of flowers in every lacecap remains pale green to yellow, contrasting nicely with the pink tones of the outer florets. And unlike almost every other "pink" Doublefile Viburnum, 'Molly Schroeder' keeps her color year after year, refusing to fade into cream or white with maturity.
Summer brings a lush foliage and berry show on this rounded shrub, which will reach its mature size of 6 to 8 feet high and wide within just a few seasons. And autumn is a spectacular event, beginning with the foliage turning handsome shades of red and purple, and culminating in a second, nearly as prolific, show of pink flowers. Butterflies flocked to these blooms in spring, but songbirds muscle their way in for autumn, feasting on the second show of berries as fall turns to winter and the available food sources dwindle. And as the leaves fall for winter, the interesting skeleton of the shrub is revealed in all its horizontal glory. Really, what more can any deciduous shrub offer the discerning gardener?
Developed and introduced in New Zealand, 'Molly Schroeder' knows its way around hot and humid weather, and once established in your garden is highly disease- and pest-resistant. Though not a native species, it is very adaptable and easy in full sun to partial shade, determined to bloom and rebloom no matter how short the growing season. There is simply no more agreeable and exciting shrub to be found! Please reserve yours promptly. Cannot ship to AZ. Zones 5-9.
