Clethra alnifolia 'SIXTEEN CANDLES' summer sweet, sweet pepper bush
size/type
medium-sized shrub,medium-sized shrub
usual height
0,5-0,8m
usual width
0,4-0,6m
leaves
deciduous broadleaf
colour of leaves
flowers
showy
colour of flowers
blooming time
July-August
location
semi-shade / partial sun
soil type
acidic (peaty)
soil moisture requirements
evenly moist (dislikes drought)
USDA zone (lowest)
4 (down to -34°C)
winter protection
for zone 5+6
for zone 7
categorized
Description of the plant:
Summer sweet (sweet pepper bush) is a popular shrub in our country again. No wonder that its new varieties are gaining more attention. Like this one – Sixteen Candles. Sixteen Candles is a compact version of a white flowering summer sweet. It grows about 60 cm tall and gets a little taller when in bloom. Flowers are small, white, and sweetly fragrant, composed in erect racemes, and appear from early summer to midsummer.
Oval leaves are deciduous, mid-green, 3-6 cm long, finely serrated. For dense foliage it does not like being shaded by other, smaller companion plants very near. This variety requires no trimming, just remove some of the old wood at the base in winter. Still, pruning is possible in early spring.
Grow it in acid, fertile, humus-rich, moist but well-drained soil in partial shade or filtered sunlight. Fully hardy to about -34°C or more (USDA zone 4).
Last update 26-06-2012
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