Life at the garden center is hectic and, indeed, the cobbler’s children have the worst shoes. Likewise, I arrived at home slightly before dusk on this Thursday night and walked to my “Korean-spice” Viburnum (Viburnum carlesii).  I knew before I arrived that the time had truly arrived to trim my Miscanthus sinensis “Strictus” ornamental grasses to a height of six inches.  This chore should have been done in late February, but I’ve been busy.

     My grasses frame my “Carlesii” as a backdrop, but I could smell the sweet and pleasing fragrance prior to my visual arrival.  The attractive red nodules borne in clusters had popped open to display a beautiful cluster of waxy of pink tinged, white flowers with a fragrance that grows more pleasant upon approach.  Even after a physically strenuous day, I sprinted to the garage for hedge shears to shear my “Strictus” before sundown.

     A pleasantry of tax filing season is the bloom of the “Carlesii”.   Last Easter was very late and I stepped out onto the porch to retrieve the morning paper, only to detect a sweet fragrance from 30 feet away.  As I came to my Viburnum, the intensity of the scent became more pleasant until, at last, my nose rested a mere two inches from the blossom and I was pleased.  Some floral scents such as the “Paperwhite Narcissus” are too much at close range, but the “Carlesii” is divine.

     This deciduous plant is rather bland in the winter and sports blossoms for only a couple of weeks.  The blooms give way to an attractive and wavy green leaf with a hue of blue. Your basic bush.  Ahh...but I begin to think of the fragrance around Ground Hog Day and the eternal invigoration of spring sets forth.

     The “Carlesii” viburnum grows to a height of 4 to 5 feet high and about as wide.  I have no pest problems with the plant and it requires little maintenance.  A little water is appreciated in the summer, though not generally required except in the driest of times.  My brief interlude with the fragrance of this plant makes it a “must” in the landscape.  I regret that we have sold all of our “Carlesiis” this spring, as usual, without a pitch.  Our customers seem to be naturally attracted to them in the spring.  Until next week.

                                                                                                            Andy Lynn