Native to China, the Seven-son flower has bouquets of very fragrant, creamy white star shaped flowers (Photo by Ginny Rosenkranz)
The seven-son flower, or Heptacodium miconioides, is a lovely fragrant shrub that is one of the latest plants to bloom in the autumn and only grows 10-20 feet tall and 8-10 feet wide.
If you have a pollinator garden or wish to invite more pollinators to your garden, this lovely multi-branched fountain-shaped shrub should be considered.
Native to China, the seven-son flower has bouquets of very fragrant, creamy white star shaped flowers.
The bouquets of flowers are typically in seven-branched clusters, and each cluster has six flowers.
After the fragrant flowers mature, they turn into small reddish-purple fruits that are crowned by rose pink calyx which last until late fall.
The deciduous narrow leaves are shiny green and are attached to the stems in an opposite fashion, usually staying on the tree until November.
The gray-brown bark exfoliates or peals off in strips to reveal the lighter almost white inner surface.
Butterflies, hummingbirds and many other pollinators feast on the nectar-rich flowers, and the lovely rosy calyx and the exfoliating bark add winter interest. Seven-son flower shrub thrives in full sun and grows in average, well-drained soil.
This lovely, almost-carefree plant can grace the edge of a patio where it will be easy to see all the butterflies and hummingbirds visit the flowers when most plants are done blooming.
There is now a lovely cultivar called the “Temple of Bloom” by Proven Winners with darker pink to purple fruit and calyx.
(Editor’s note: Ginny Rosenkranz is a commercial horticulture specialist with the University of Maryland Extension.)
