Deutzia Yuki Cherry Blossom®

Create your own "cherry blossom" display with this charming dwarf shrub, a carefree and long-lived presence in garden or container. Yuki Cherry Blossom® Deutzia offers masses of pink-and-white bloom clusters in springtime, followed by handsome burgundy fall foliage. Hummingbirds love it, deer and rabbits stay clear, and it even tolerates drought and less-than-perfect soil. What could be better?

These creamy white blooms are blushed with magenta and very faintly fragrant, creating a lovely carpet of color on low, spreading branches. Yuki Cherry Blossom® is a dwarf shrub, reaching just 1 to 2 feet tall and about 2 feet wide, so it is an ideal choice for tall planters, the front of the border, mass plantings, and edging. The leaves are just 2½ inches wide and a soft, rich green that turns burgundy when the cold autumn weather arrives.

Yuki Cherry Blossom® is deciduous, and blooms on old wood, so if you ever want to prune it, do so immediately after it blooms in spring, to give it a chance to set new buds for next year. But most of the time this shrub needs no attention at all beyond well-drained, reasonably fertile soil. If you want it to become more dense, cut the flowering stems back to the foliage right after the final blooms pass, and once every few years, prune the entire shrub back.

This Deutzia is drought-tolerant once established, and nibbling animals from rabbits to deer tend to leave it alone. Best of all, the first hummingbirds of the season may be found sipping from its flowers. Such a multi-season pleasure in any setting.

Very easy to grow in sun to partial shade (full sun is best for heaviest flowering), this Japanese native adds soft beauty to the spring garden and rich color to the autumn display. Tuck it into bare spots in the garden, or design a mass planting that will wow your landscape.