Clerodendrum trichotomum

A native of China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and parts of South Asia, Clerodendrum trichotomum has been cultivated in Western gardens since the mid-1800s, when it was introduced from Japan and quickly adopted across Europe and the American South for its uncanny late-season performance. It is the hardiest member of its genus and, for our money, the most theatrical.

Through August and September, broad cymes of white tubular flowers open from swollen pink calyces at the branch tips, carrying a sweet jasmine-like fragrance that drifts further than you'd expect from a shrub this size. Hummingbirds, swallowtails, and night-flying moths work the flowers steadily. What follows is the part collectors plant it for: the petals drop, the pink calyces flush deeper to a true rose-red and open like little stars, and at the center of each one sits a single hard berry the color of oxidized turquoise. The contrast is almost gaudy — pink, red, metallic blue — and it holds for weeks into autumn.

Reaches 10 to 15 feet as a multi-stemmed shrub, more if trained as a small tree. Suckers freely from the roots, which is either a feature or a problem depending on where you site it. In an open lawn or border it will form a colony; in a contained bed or beside a drive, it stays well-mannered with occasional pruning. Sun to part shade, average to moist soil. Hardy in zones 7 to 9. Crush a leaf and you'll understand why some call it the peanut butter tree.