Clethra alnifolia ‘Anne Bidwell’

Summersweet, Clethra alnifolia, is one of the great fragrant natives of the eastern United States, a shrub of moist woods and pond edges whose white summer spikes carry a honey-and-clove perfume across the whole garden. Colonists called the plant Sweet Pepperbush, for the peppercorn-like seed heads that follow, and Summersweet, for the scent; the flowers even lather softly in water and once served as a field soap.

'Anne Bidwell' is the selection to grow for sheer flower power. Raised in Massachusetts from a commercial seed source, this summersweet is most remarkable for the flowers: densely clustered, multi-branched spikes far larger than the straight species, some eight to ten inches long, borne in such profusion that the bush seems to foam white. The blooms open around two weeks later than most selections, in mid to late August, stretching the summersweet season and the fragrance deep into the late-summer garden. The habit stays fairly compact and upright, dressed in lustrous dark green leaves that turn clear yellow in fall.

Plant 'Anne Bidwell' where the late, oversized spikes can be met at close range, beside a path, a seat, or a window left open on a warm evening, and where the bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds are part of the pleasure. Wonderfully at home in moist shrub borders, rain gardens, and the heavy, damp shade that defeats showier plants. Pair with ferns, itea, and other moisture-loving companions.