Chinese Snowball Viburnum
Viburnum macrocephalum
Giant snowballs of lime-green flowers turning white, among the biggest of any viburnum, cover this large shrub in spring and often again in fall. Easy and trouble free; give it room and water in dry spells.
- Mature size
- 15 × 15 ft
- 4.5 × 4.5 m, tall × wide
- Hardiness
- Zones 6a–9b
- USDA
- Sun
- Full sun to part shade
- Water
- Medium
- Blooms
- Apr–May
Chinese Snowball Viburnum at its mature size
A mature Chinese Snowball Viburnum grows to about 15 ft tall and 15 ft wide, taller than most people.
Drawn to scale beside a 5 ft 9 in person. With VeraScape, you see it at this size in your own yard.
Typical mature size, unpruned. Sources: NC State Extension, Clemson Extension.
Through the year
What Chinese Snowball Viburnum looks like month by month in a typical zone 6–7 garden.
Dormant · Nov–Mar
Bare twiggy branches.
In flower · Apr–May
Huge round white snowball flower clusters all over.
In leaf · Jun–Oct
Matte green oval leaves, no flowers.
Growing Chinese Snowball Viburnum
- Grows well in
- The Southeast and the Northeast.
- Growth rate
- Medium
- Good for
- Hedge and specimen
- Leaves
- Drops its leaves in winter
- Native to
- China
Spacing for a hedge
VeraScape spaces plants so their grown canopies just touch. For Chinese Snowball Viburnum, that’s about 15 ft apart, center to center.
Place a row in your own yard and VeraScape spaces them at their mature width, so you can see whether they’ll crowd the walk.
See Chinese Snowball Viburnum in your yard before you dig
Visualize it at its true size, alongside the rest of your design.
Other viburnums
Koreanspice Viburnum
Arrowwood Viburnum
Viburnum 'Prague'Chinese Snowball ViburnumAll drawn to the same scale.