Not the plant you're looking for? Search over 300,000 plants

Clethra alnifolia 'Hummingbird'
  • RHS AGM

white alder 'Hummingbird'

'Hummingbird' is a compact shrub, up to 1.2m high, with glossy dark green leaves which turn yellow in autumn. Many feathery spikes of sweetly clove-scented white flowers appear in mid- to late summer

Buy this plant
Size
Ultimate height
1–1.5 metres
Time to ultimate height
5–10 years
Ultimate spread
1–1.5 metres
Growing conditions
Loam
Sand
Moisture
Moist but well–drained
pH
Acid
Colour & scent
StemFlowerFoliageFruit
Spring Green
Summer White Green
Autumn Yellow
Winter
Position
  • Partial shade
Aspect

North–facing or West–facing or South–facing or East–facing

Exposure
Sheltered
Hardiness
H5
Botanical details
Family
Clethraceae
Native to the UK
No
Foliage
Deciduous
Habit
Suckering
Genus

Clethra can be deciduous or evergreen trees or shrubs, sometimes with attractive bark, with simple leaves and small, fragrant, usually white, bell-shaped flowers in racemes or panicles

Name status

Accepted

How to grow

Cultivation

Grow in humus-rich, moist, well-drained, lime-free soil in dappled shade, in the shelter of an open woodland garden or a lightly-shaded shrub border; after pruning, mulch with well-rotted leaf mould

Propagation

Propagate by division of suckers, by heeled semi-ripe cuttings of lateral shoots in summer, or by layering in late autumn or early spring

Suggested planting locations and garden types
  • Cottage and informal garden
  • Low Maintenance
Pruning

Pruning group 1; in winter, remove some of the older stems, leaving the strongest suckers; cut off old flowerheads in spring

Pests

Generally pest-free

Diseases

Generally disease-free

Get involved

The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.