Re: V. trilobum


Dear Carol and Mark,

I planted 6 V. trilobum 'Compactum'  in the late spring of 1997.  By mid July of
'97,
they all had the die-back you describe.  Same thing happened in '98.  This year,
however,
there is a lot of growth and lots of flowers have led to lots of fruit.  After
the first summer,
I did not water them.  This spring was fairly damp but very little rain has
fallen since mid-May.
Soil is probably on the acidic side, but not excessively so. The planting site
gets run off from a nearby farm field, so stays damp longer than other areas.  
The shrubs get afternoon sun from about 1pm on in high summer.  I have several
young plants of the species living in a nursery bed under
almost the same conditions.  They also get afternoon sun, but not until around
3pm.  The nursery bed is considerably more crowded and there are more tree roots
to compete with, yet the viburnums
in this holding area have never shown any signs of disease.  

The native range of V. trilobum is only as far south as New York and Michigan.  
Dirr says the stem blight occurs in hot, humid weather.  Maybe the combination
of sun and
a rainy year is doing yours in.  I live in a area of hot humid summers, and
though it has been
hot here, the humidity has not been as great as usual.  I grow a lot of
viburnus, and V. trilobum
'Compactum' is the only one that has had any problems.  I'm with you, Mark.  If
the blight hits again,
I'll probably pull the shrubs out and plant something else.  Maybe elderberries?


Lisa Flaum
Waterloo, south-west Illinios, USA
Min -10F Max 105F  (-24C to 40C) 
Wet winter, Dry summer punctuated by gully-washers;  high humidity, unreliable
snow cover, clay soil.   Member NARGS, IBS, SRGC, AGS, AHS, RHS, APS, ACS (I
like seed exchanges)



 


>Subject: Viburnum trilobum
>
>what the heck happened to my healthy shrub I planted first of May?
>

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