Spice Island Korean Spice Bush

Light Needs

Partial Shade to Full Sun

(At Least 3 Hours of Direct Sunlight)

Mature Height

4-5 Feet

Mature Spread

4-5 Feet

Growing Zones

5 to 9

Spice Island Korean Spice Bush is a peculiar name, but this lovely flowering shrub will make a beautiful and welcome addition to your landscape. Tiny white flowers with hints of pink bloom in the spring, and the flowers form tight clusters that have a rounded appearance. This cultivar blooms with the green foliage fully expanded, giving this mounded shrub a very dense look. The foliage of the Viburnum carlesii will turn a dark burgundy in the fall. 

This slow-grower will take a few years to reach full size. As an upright deciduous plant that will reach about 5 feet tall, this Spicebush will make a wonderful hedge. Use along a fence or foundation, create privacy along a patio or use as a focal point in a group planting. Feature this plant in a busy area where the fragrant spring-time flowers can be enjoyed. The Spice Island Korean Spice Bush grows as a perennial in USDA zones 5 through 9.

Spice Island Korean Spice Bush Care

Plant this beauty in full sun to partial shade. Soil should be moist, well-drained, and acidic to neutral. This plant likes evenly moist soil, but it does not like wet feet. Water established plants when the top few inches of the soil are dry. This plant is drought-tolerant, but it will benefit from a deep watering during a dry period.

Prune this shrub after the flowers fade but before the plant sets the following year’s buds. Get this Spice Bush off to a strong start each spring with a dose of a balanced, slow-release fertilizer. 

Spice Island Korean Spice Bush Spacing

This woody, upright branched perennial will grow 4 to 5 feet tall and wide. Shrubs can be planted 3 to 5 feet apart to create a continuous mass planting or hedge.