Sherry Sue Summersweet (Clethra)
Clethra alnifolia ‘Sherry Sue’
Other Names; Sherry Sue Sweet Pepper Bush
Plant Details
USDA Plant Hardiness Zones: 4a-9b  Find Your Zone
Plant Type:Â Deciduous Flowering Shrub
Height at Maturity:Â 5-6′
Width at Maturity:Â 4-5′
Spacing:Â Â 4′ for solid hedges; 8’+ for space between plants
Growth Habit / Form:Â Bushy, Upright
Growth Rate:Â Moderate to Fast
Flower Color:Â White tinted with Pink
Flower Size:Â Small in spires 1″wide x 4-6″ long
Flowering Period:Â Early to Mid-Summer
Flower Type:Â Spires
Fragrant Flowers:Â Â Yes, smells like candy!
Foliage Color:Â Dark Green
Fragrant Foliage:Â No
Sun Needs:Â Full Sun or Mostly Shade, Morning Sun with Dappled or Afternoon Shade, All Day Filtered Sun, Morning Shade with Evening Sun, Shade or Mostly Shade
Water Needs:Â Â Average to High
Soil Type:Â Â Clay (amend heavy clay), Loam, Sandy (moisture retentive), SiltÂ
Soil Moisture / Drainage:Â Moist to Wet
Soil pH:Â 5.5 – 7.5 (Acid to Slightly Alkaline)
Maintenance / Care:Â Very Low
Attracts:Â Butterflies. Hummingbirds, Pollinating Insects, Visual Attention
Resistances:Â Cold Temperatures (-30F), Deer –Â more info, Disease, Heat, Insect, Salt Air, Wet Soils
Description
Sure to delight the senses in more ways than one, ‘Sherry Sue’ Summersweet is a super-hardy, adaptable, and very easy-to-grow North American native flowering shrub anyone in USDA Zones 4a to 9b can grow. As with other Clethra alnifolia cultivars, she produces abundant spires of fragrant white flowers that smell like cotton candy, hence “Summersweet” in the common name, but Sherry Sue’s flower spires form atop pinkish-red stems that contrast beautifully with the pure-white flowers and her dark green glossy foliage. The flowers are irresistible to hummingbirds, butterflies, and other beneficial pollinators. The color show continues in the fall when her foliage turns to variable shades of golden yellow. Highly adaptable, Sherry Sue will thrive in full sun or mostly shade and most any consistently moist to wet soil, making her a perfect choice for planting in those areas of the landscape where the soil never completely dries out. A multi-season shrub you will not regret planting, and the hummingbirds and butterflies will thank you for it!
Clethra alnifolia ‘Sherry Sue’ was introduced by the JC Raulston Arboretum in North Carolina. Â
Landscape & Garden Uses
Growing upright to about 5 to 6 feet tall and 4 to 5 feet wide, Sherry Sue Summersweet Clethra is ideal for use as a specimen or in groupings in sunny or shady landscape and woodland borders where the soil stays consistently moist to wet. It is also nice around patios, decks, and other outdoor living spaces where the fragrant flowers and hummingbirds and butterflies that visit can be enjoyed from close up. In boggy soils it will spread by stolons to form a colony. A fine addition to bog gardens, butterfly and hummingbird gardens, native plant gardens, white theme gardens, wildlife gardens, cottage gardens, and fragrance gardens. Â
Suggested Spacing:Â 4 feet apart for solid hedges;Â 8 feet or more apart for space between plants
Growing Preferences
Sherry Sue Summersweet Clethra is easy to grow in most any consistently moist to wet soil in sun or shade. Exceptionally low maintenance requiring no pruning. In boggy soils it will spread by stolons to form a colony. Free of any pest and disease problems!Â
Helpful Articles
Click on the link below to find helpful advice from our experts on how to plant and care for Clethra Summersweet plants.
How To Plant & Care For Clethra Summersweet
Plant Long & Prosper!
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