Spicebush
Lindera benzoin
A native shrub for moist shade, with clusters of tiny, fragrant yellow flowers in early spring, spicy-scented leaves that turn bright yellow in fall, and red berries for birds on female plants. Plant a male nearby for berries and give it more water in sun. It's susceptible to laurel wilt.
- Mature size
- 9 × 9 ft
- 2.7 × 2.7 m, tall × wide
- Hardiness
- Zones 5a–9b
- USDA
- Sun
- Part sun to part shade
- Water
- Dry to wet
- Blooms
- Mar–Apr
- Fall color Oct
Spicebush at its mature size
A mature Spicebush grows 6 to 12 feet tall and just as 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.
Through the year
What Spicebush looks like month by month in a typical zone 6–7 garden.
Dormant · Nov–Feb
Bare slender gray-brown stems.
In flower · Mar–Apr
Leafless branches dotted with clusters of tiny greenish-yellow flowers, a soft chartreuse haze.
In leaf · May–Sep
Light green smooth oblong leaves.
Fall · Oct
Clear bright butter-yellow, a few scarlet berries.
Photos
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Growing Spicebush
- Grows well in
- The Northeast, the Southeast, and the Midwest.
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Good for
- Hedge, shade garden, drought tolerant, rain garden, pollinators, fall color, winter interest, and fragrant
- Leaves
- Drops its leaves in winter
- Native to
- Eastern North America
Spacing for a hedge
VeraScape spaces plants so their grown canopies just touch. For Spicebush, that’s about 9 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 Spicebush in your yard before you dig
Visualize it at its true size, alongside the rest of your design.