Seven-Son Flower

Seven-son flower (Heptacodium miconioides) is a deciduous large shrub or small tree in the honeysuckle family, native to China and valued for an unusually long season of interest. Its name refers to the flowers borne in tiered clusters of seven.

Fragrant creamy-white flowers open in late summer when little else blooms, attracting bees and butterflies. After the petals drop, the persisting sepals (calyces) enlarge and flush bright cherry-rose, creating a second 'bloom.' Exfoliating tan-and-brown bark provides winter appeal. It grows 15-25 ft.

• Habit: Vigorous, multi-stemmed large shrub or small tree, 15-25 ft, upright and somewhat vase-shaped.
• Flowers: Fragrant, small creamy-white flowers in tiered clusters of seven, late summer to early fall.
• Sepals: After bloom, calyces enlarge and turn showy rose-red, lasting weeks into autumn.
• Leaves: Opposite, oval, dark green, deeply veined, 3-6 in.
• Bark: Tan-brown, peeling in long strips to reveal lighter wood; strong winter interest.

Light: Full sun to partial shade; best bloom and bark color in full sun.

Water: Water weekly when establishing; drought-tolerant once mature.

Soil: Adaptable to most well-drained soils across a range of pH.

Temperature: Hardy USDA zones 5-9.

Feeding: Minimal; tolerates lean soils.

Pruning/Propagation: Can be grown as multi-stem shrub or limbed up to a small tree; prune in late winter. Propagated easily from softwood cuttings.

Native to China, where it is rare in the wild, growing on rocky wooded slopes and cliffs in Zhejiang province. It was once thought possibly extinct in nature but persists in scattered populations.

Introduced to Western cultivation by the Arnold Arboretum in the 1980s, it is now grown as an ornamental across temperate North America and Europe in zones 5-9.