Wentworth American Cranberrybush Viburnum (Viburnum trilobum ‘Wentworth’)

Fall head over heels with the beautiful Wentworth American Cranberrybush Viburnum (Viburnum trilobum ‘Wentworth’). You’ll enjoy their handsome good looks all year long! Any fans of Jane Austen know just how handsome the dashing Captain Wentworth was, and this ornamental shrub embodies a great many noteworthy characteristics!

These multi-stemmed native shrub cultivars feature a dense, rounded upright shape that provides a hard-working foundation for their many ornamental charms. Young branches take on a beautiful golden glow. As their Latin name suggests – the instantly recognizable, serrated leaves have three broad lobes apiece. Watch for the new spring leaves to emerge bright red and deepen to dark green.

Spring also brings a lovely season of white lacecap blooms. Each petite flower is shaped like a pinwheel, and there are many dozens found in every cluster, surrounding the button-like buds in the center like a crown. All the butterflies in your neighborhood are sure to make their winged way over to your yard. The nectar-rich blooms can be used in charming May Day baskets.

Over the growing season, these heavy fruiting American Viburnums develop their annual autumn harvest. You’ll cherish the way the large, scarlet-red fruit contrasts against the summer cloak of dark green leaves. And your songbirds know a feast when they see one! A Wentworth in full berry is as pretty as a picture! Harvest the ripe berries to use in preserves or jellies, or simply let the songbirds come and enjoy them.

Exceptionally cold hardy down to USDA growing zones 2 through 7, as the temperatures dip, the green foliage turns a beautiful red in the autumn. You’ll get a full year’s worth of beauty with this smart choice…and a happy Wentworth lives up to 40 years! Put these showy shrubs to work in your landscape, and you’ll always have something to look at. Pair them with one of our other American Cranberries for the biggest berry harvest!

Planting and Application:

These make wonderfully informal screens or long hedges. Their densely held, unique foliage delivers a welcome sense of organic privacy. Let them grow into a living ‘friendly fence’ that offers so many benefits to your local ecology! Use them to create a happy, busy backyard where life thrives and flourishes. That means you can run them all the way along your property line to define your space.

Enjoy spring blooms, summer green, fall berries and color and a well-balanced winter display to catch the light snow and ice for a pretty wonderland. Block prying eyes and noise and slow the wind with these magnificent shrubs!

Don’t forget to plant another variety of American Cranberrybush nearby for increased pollination and more berries on each shrub! Why not pop them in a modern mixed-shrub border with one or more of our compact selections? Viburnums are one of the most desirable shrubs in the Green Industry, after all. Collect these fabulous native shrubs and you’ll effortlessly create a gorgeous designer look.

Try one or more of these bird-friendly shrubs outside a window, and you’ll gain a marvelous bower to enjoy indoors, as well. Imagine curling up with a pair of binoculars and watching as new baby birds hatch from their nest! The dense growth is perfect for shelterbelts and groupings ideal for habitat and shelterbelts for birds and wildlife.

• Creamy White Flat-Topped Lacecap Blooms
• Rich Nectar Source for Birds, Butterflies & Beneficial Pollinators
• Plenty of Bright Red Berries for Jelly or Bird Feeding
• Attractive, Tri-Lobed Foliage & Burgundy Fall Color
• Outstanding Selection of a Native Shrub
• Large-Scale Screening Shrub, Bird-Friendly Habitat, Specimen & Living Walls

Tips for Care:

Wentworth needs at least four hours of sunlight a day. This Viburnum variety would also love a spot in full sun all day long, as well! You’ll enjoy far more flowers and berries in full sun as well! Preferring sandy loam to some clay, Wentworth performs best on well-drained sites with better than average moisture but is a forgiving plant that can adapt. Consistent moisture is important, especially during the first few seasons and in an extended drought. Apply a three-inch layer of mulch over the root systems, but pull it back away from the stems.

Add Nature Hills Root Booster to support a healthy shrub over its entire life. The ingredients create a symbiotic relationship with the tiny feeder roots to help them access micronutrients from the soil.

Prune right after the spring blooms are finished to shorten up any stems needed, as Wentworth is a shrub that blooms on last year’s wood. Please don’t wait too long, or you’ll risk trimming off next year’s blooms! Don’t trim too much away so you won’t miss too many berries! Renewal prune every 3-4 years by removing the oldest fattest stems to the ground and encouraging new growth and by skipping pruning and only renewal pruning you will still enjoy berries.

This is a very cold-hardy choice that can be grown in Canada, so there are no special winter considerations. Deer tend to leave it alone, but if they are heavily populated in your area, please use and reapply Deer Repellent spray according to the directions.

• Can Be Grown in Full Sun or Partial Shade
• Adaptable to Most Well-Drained Soil Types
• Provide Mulched Beds & Moderate, Regular Moisture
• Prune After Flowering To Deadhead & Shape
• Deer Don’t Prefer The Taste & Juglone Resistant
• Exceptionally Cold Hardy & Adaptable
• Easy-Care & Low Maintenance

Adaptable and dashing Wentworth American Cranberrybush Viburnum is a joy to own, and is so easy to grow! They are a perfect choice for newbie gardeners, nature lovers, design aficionados, and fans of homemade jelly.