A Plethora of Clethra

Speaking of aromatic blooms that rejuvenate the landscape at the end of summer, I am thinking of adding Clethra alnifolia to my yard. Also know as summersweet or pepper bush, clethra is a slow growing, deciduous shrub that blooms late July to September. It's long-lasting flowers are cone shaped spikes from 4-6 inches in length and available in pinks to white. Clethra sports golden fall color.

The only characteristic that gives me pause is that clethra spreads through shoots from rhizomes. I am in the process of beating back a stand of mock orange, that held captive a pretty fence trapped inside its numerous shoots. Needless to say, the word "shoots" gives me a tick.

But there are so many cultivars that surely I can find one clethra whose good traits outweigh its bad. Here are the choices as found on the Clemson Cooperative Extension site:

• ‘Ruby Spice’ has 3½- to 4-inch-long flower clusters or inflorescences that are a rich rose, and the flowers hold their color well. This cultivar can reach 6 feet in height and width, and is one of the darkest pink selections.
• ‘Pink Spires’ has pink buds that open into flowers that are a soft shell pink. This pink cultivar reaches 3 to 6 feet tall and wide, and has 3½- to 4-inch-long inflorescences.
• ‘Hummingbird’ is a dwarf cultivar that grows 30 to 40 inches tall, and will be covered with 4- to 6-inch long clusters of fragrant white flowers. It has a good yellow fall color.
• ‘Sixteen Candles’ is another dwarf selection. It was found as a seedling from ‘Hummingbird’, is compact, and quite floriferous. This white cultivar tends to hold its inflorescences in a more upright habit than ‘Hummingbird’, whose flower clusters tend to splay. Floral racemes are 4 to 6 inches long with white flowers.
• White Dove™ (‘Sotite’, PP#15505) grows to only 2 to 3 feet tall and wide, has abundant white flowers.
• Sugartina® (‘Crysalina’ PP#21561) is Proven Winner® selection. It is a dwarf clethra with a tight dense shape and pure white flowers. It grows to 28 to 30 inches tall and 28 to 36 inches wide. The fall color is yellow.
• ‘Anne Bidwell’ produces white flowers that are larger than the species. Plants grow to 4 to 6 feet tall and 3 to 5 feet wide. The fall color is golden
• ‘Rosea’ is an older cultivar with pink flower buds that open pink and fade to nearly white. This cultivar grows to 3 to 6 feet tall and 3 to 5 feet wide. It has yellow to golden brown fall color.
• ‘September Beauty’ flowers with white blooms up to two weeks later than the species. The plants grow to 4 to 6 feet tall and 3 to 4 feet wide.
• Vanilla Spice® (‘Caleb’, PP#21589) is a Proven Winners® selection, and has extra-large white flowers. The plant grows 3 to 6 feet tall and 3 to 5 feet wide.
• First Snow® (‘Takeda Nishiki’) is a cultivar of Clethra barbinervis, and is hardy from USDA zones 6 to 9. This is a large cultivar that grows to 10 to 20 feet tall and 10 to 15 feet wide.