Seven son flower (heptacodioum) is a great fall blooming shrub

It’s always wonderful to have something in the garden that blooms at the end of the season. When I’m searching for plants, especially shrubs and trees, I’m looking for plants with more than one season of interest.

Heptacodium is a great fall blooming shrub. Photo by Doug Oster

There are one trick ponies like forsythia and lilacs that are part of the landscape, but there’s fun in finding things that offer more.

Heptacodium is a tough shrub that will grow and bloom just about anywhere. In my garden it’s used as a woodland planting, I’ve seen it out in full sun too. It would probably prefer morning sun and afternoon shade though.

It starts blooming in late August with pretty white, fragrant flowers that fade to red. The tan exfoliating bark provides nice winter interest too.

Heptacodium can reach 15 to 20 feet tall where it’s happy and eight to 10 feet wide, so give it the room it needs when planting.

This is the time of the year when I’m scouring nurseries looking for shrubs and trees to add in the garden. Fall is the best time to plant them. Day length and temperatures now are conducive to root growth instead of top growth. The plant can get established underground and then give us many years of joy.

Be sure to water any newly planted shrubs and trees until the ground freezes if rain is scarce.

I found two more heptacodium shrubs last season on sale. The nursery was almost giving them away. They are doing well in the forest without any extra watering this season.

Heptacodium is beautiful, tough and you should grow it. One of the nice things about growing a plant this resilient is that another generation will wonder who planted it and will enjoy it for years to come.