Enkianthus: a fine substitute for burning bush
Around here, burning bush (Euonymus alatus) has long been among the most popular of shrubs. During my years in sales at the garden center, it was among the top ten. Everyone — even non-gardeners — seemed to know about it, probably because of its showy fall color. But attitudes toward the plant have changed in recent years. It’s been declared an invasive species in regions throughout the eastern half of the U.S., and many garden centers, including ours here in Vermont, no longer sell it.
I’ve always found it to be a bit of a one-trick pony. I like the way Andrew Keys describes the shrub. He’s the author of Why Grow That When You Can Grow This? (2012, Timber Press). “Burning bush is the class clown of fall, a fire engine of foliage that sets the garden alight. It’s also an invasive species with an evil root system, smothering forest floors across the East and Midwest, its seed scattered by unwitting birds.”
Keys’ book is all about choosing better plants, and when it comes to burning bush, there’s no shortage of show-stopping, quality shrubs for fall. In his book, Andrew Keys recommends eastern wahoo (Euonymus atropurpureus, zones 3-7), which is similar to traditional burning bush, without the invasive tendencies. Other recommendations from Keys:
- Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum, V. ashei and others; hardiness varies with species): “One of Americas greatest native food plants may be its most underrated ornamental.”
- Fragrant sumac (Rhus aromatica, zones 3-9): “… as happy in Arizona as Alabama, this low-water shrub blooms, too, with dainty cream clusters in spring.”
My favorite is enkianthus (zones 5-7), a tree-like shrub (growing up to 10′ tall) that takes on lovely fall color. You get tiny, bell-shaped flowers in spring, which dangle from the branches. Another shrub I often suggest is fothergilla (zones 5-8), which becomes an autumnal rainbow in fall, with leaves showing gold, orange and red. Bottlebrush-shaped flowers in earliest spring are a bonus. You’ll find compact, 2′ to 3′ tall varieties, as well as larger varieties that can reach 10′ tall.
I also recommend the katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum, zones 4-8), which might not work in the same situations as burning bush because this beauty is full-size tree, growing to 40′ to 60′ tall. The rounded leaves resemble those of redbud (cercis) and turn shades of gold, orange and red in fall. The best part: Fallen leaves emit a smell that, to me, resembles the aroma of brown sugar-topped coffee cake.
More burning bush alternatives from some of the gardeners at our Williston, VT, garden center:
American cranberrybush viburnum, also known as highbush cranberry (Viburnum trilobum, zones 2-7), is native to the Northeast and Midwest. It prefers full sun to light shade and moist soil, and makes an excellent 8′ to 12′ tall screen or informal hedge. (Smaller cultivars are available.)
Mapleleaf viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium, zones 3-8) has showy flowers in spring followed by attractive fruit clusters. In autumn, the foliage turns reddish purple. The plant reaches a height of 3′ to 6′ and spreads by suckering.
Chokeberry (aronia, such as Aronia melanocarpa, zones 3-8) is native to the Northeast, but has adapted to many areas, growing to 3’ to 6’ tall. Black berries are set off by showy fall foliage.
Years ago, I was knocked down 5 points on an exam by my U of G prof for voicing negativity towards this bush!
My objections to it are that it only looks amazing for two weeks of the year, the rest of the time it’s ho hum. I like your suggested alternatives, especially Fragrant sumac. For our zone (5-6) I often recommend Pagoda Dogwood for a larger shrub, Coral Beauty Cotoneaster for a smaller one, Orange twig Willow for a mid to large size shrub (providing the stem interest in the winter). I stay away from the Viburnums because of pest attacks which decimate the foliage.
my favorite of all plants for beauty and awesome fragrance is Daphne. Healthy and about 3 years old and about 3-4 feet wide and same height. Part shade and little evening sun, lives in Pacific N W.
It disturbs me that landscapers and landscape plant growers across the country keep recommending non-native species, like Katsura trees, and neglect native plants for landscapes, such as viburnums, blueberries and native dogwoods. Do some bugs eat the foliage? Yes, you should hope so! We are losing bees, butterflies and other pollinators, as well as birds and native wildlife that would keep “bad bug” populations in check, because nearly all of the landscape trees, evergreens, ornamentals, shrubs and perennials offered by nurseries are exotics. It takes many generations for insects to adapt to non-native plants. Nice if you like a spotless leaf on your Ginko tree, but terrible if you want to support the Earth’s ecosystem and the food web. See the work being done by Dr. Doug Tallamy, entomologist, who wrote, “Bringing Nature Home,” and Rick Darke, renowned plantsman and landscape consultant, on using native plants for landscaping and environmental benefit. His recent book, co-written with Tallamy, “The Living Landscape: Designing for beauty and biodiversity in the home garden,” beautifully illustrates this point. Another reason for using natives is that, once they’ve had a year to settle in, they need little supplemental watering, except in extreme heat or drought, and do not need huge quantities of fertilizers to thrive if planted in native soils to which they are naturally adapted. It’s time we wake up to the harms we are doing to the ecosystem by making poor plant choices, encouraged by growers who focus more on bringing out “new” varieties of plants each season, rather than growing beautiful, healthy native plants that we can use in our own yards that will protect our natural ecosystems so that there are enough pollinators left for the human food supply as well as that of the other creatures with which we share the planet.