Witherod Viburnum (Viburnum cassinoides) - white flowers, illustrated plant cardIllustration

Witherod Viburnum

Viburnum cassinoides

Also called northern witherod, northern wild raisin, appalachian tea tree and withe-rod

Witherod Viburnum blooms from May through June.

Bloom calendar
Bloom time
May–Jun
checked
Hardiness
Zones 3–8
checked
Sun
Full sun
checked
Water
Moderate water
checked
Mature size
8 ft × 8 ft
checked
Type
Shrub
house classification

Months here are Northern Hemisphere months; in the Southern Hemisphere, shift them by six months.

Growing Witherod Viburnum

Plant it in full sun. It prefers moderate water. It is hardy in USDA zones 3–8. Expect it to reach about 8 ft tall and 8 ft wide at maturity, in roughly 4 years (a house reading).

Pets

  • Not yet checked for pets.

Lists differ and none is complete. If a pet eats a plant and seems unwell, call a veterinarian or a pet poison helpline.

No toxicity note is on file for Witherod Viburnum. That is not a clearance: check its safety for people and pets before planting.

Verification
What was checked

Nine facts were checked against named botanical sources, each recorded beside the sources that carried it: mature height and spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color, the trait tags, and years to mature size, which rests on a recorded house rule where no publisher states one and is marked so. Soil, diseases, pests, toxicity and the plant's own names have not yet been read for this plant, and its trait tags are the ones a feature uses rather than every word a page prints. Each fact above carries its own mark. The planting, spacing and size sections are derived from these checked facts by a fixed rule, not checked separately, and the plant type is the library's own classification.

See the 8 sources it was checked against

When to plant Witherod Viburnum

Plant Witherod Viburnum in early spring as soon as the soil is workable, or in early fall at least six weeks before your first frost, so roots establish in cool weather. In zone 5, the middle of its hardy zones 3 to 8, spring means April to June and fall means August or September. Once settled, it blooms from May to June.

Month-by-month timing for your zone is on the planting calendar; if you garden near zone 5, the middle of this plant's hardy range, start with zone 5 in April. Derived from the plant's category, zones and bloom months plus typical zone frost dates, not checked separately.

How big does Witherod Viburnum get?

Illustration of Witherod Viburnum drawn to scale beside an adult8 fttall5 ft 7 inan adult8 ftwide
About 8 ft tall and 8 ft wide at maturity: half again as tall as an adult.

See Witherod Viburnum in a garden plan: the planner shows it in 3D beside everything else you add, growing toward this size over the years.

How far apart to plant Witherod Viburnum

Derived from the mature spread above by a fixed rule, not checked separately: spacing is the spread, center to center.

Give Witherod Viburnum about 8 ft of clear ground in every direction, measured from its center. It is one plant with room around it, not a row, and a raised bed is too small for it.

Clear ground around it
8 ft in every direction

Add Witherod Viburnum to a garden plan and the planner draws it at its full width, so you see the spacing before you buy.

Where these facts come from

Witherod Viburnum's height, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color and trait tags were checked against 8 published sources on October 25, 2026. Each one is linked below with every fact it carried, which can include a fact this page still marks as not yet checked, because a source carrying a value is not the same as the value being held to the standard. Facts not in that list, and the planting, spacing and size sections, are not covered by these sources.

  • Missouri Botanical GardenPlant Finderheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color and trait tags
  • NC State ExtensionGardener Plant Toolboxheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color and trait tags
  • Chicago Botanic GardenPlant Finderheight, hardiness zones, sun, bloom months and color and trait tags
  • edgeofthewoodsnursery.comEdge of the Woods Native Plant Nurseryheight, spread, sun, water and bloom months and color
  • Oregon State UniversityLandscape Plantsheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun and bloom months and color
  • tnyards.utk.eduUniversity of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, Tennessee Smart Yardsheight, spread, sun, water and bloom months and color
  • RHSRoyal Horticultural Societyheight, sun, water and bloom months and color
  • apps.dnr.wi.govWisconsin Department of Natural Resourcesheight and bloom months and color

How the checking works, and what each standard covers, is on the verified plants page.

Where it grows wild

Native to 24 states and 6 provinces

United States: Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and 12 more

Canada: New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec

Recorded growing wild in 345 counties.

Range data from the World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 4.0, adapted) and USDA PLANTS. How the native range is credited.

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