Photo: Sten Porse, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Sweet Pepperbush (Summersweet)
Clethra alnifolia
Also called summersweet, clethra, coastal sweetpepperbush.
Spires of intensely fragrant white flowers in August, when almost nothing else is blooming, and bees know it.
Showy flowersHoney treeTolerates wet soilTolerates shadeFall color
- Type
- Shrub
- Mature height
- 4–8 ft
- USDA zones
- 4–9
- Growth rate
- Medium
- Sun
- Full · Part · Shade
- Soil moisture
- Average · Wet
210
Summersweet grows in wet coastal woods from Maine to Texas and tolerates shade, salt spray and standing water. Its late-summer bloom is a lifeline for bees and butterflies and a notable honey plant. Suckers slowly into a colony; yellow fall color. One of the easiest native shrubs.
Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them. Estimate growth for this species →
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