Snowday Blizzard Pearlbush a summer treat
Any sane person would agree that a late June blizzard would be a very cruel joke indeed. But, fortunately, there is one blizzard that is defined not by strong winds and drifting snow but rather by its blizzard-like floral display.
‘Snowday Blizzard’ Pearlbush is a prairie-hardy shrub that creates the perfect storm of large, white flowers that almost completely cover the plant from mid to late June.
History
Pearlbush is indigenous to China and Turkestan and is a member of the rose family; a family that includes apples, and mountain ash. Frenchman Victor Lemoine was largely responsible for introducing this pretty shrub to the west back in the early 1900s.
Today great garden varieties, like Snowday Blizzard, are the result of that initial introduction coupled with extensive breeding work between some tough and beautiful Chinese and Turkestani species.
On the prairies, Pearlbush is still relatively unknown in the world of ornamental shrubs, but because of great introductions like Snowday Blizzard, I think its popularity is about to change.
Best features
Snowstorm Blizzard is one of those rare flowering shrubs that is nearly as spectacular at the prebloom stage, as it is at full bloom. During the pre-bloom phase, Snowstorm Blizzard develops large, round white flower buds that are — not surprisingly — reminiscent of huge pearls. Once the pearls burst open, the entire shrub becomes completely covered in exceptionally large, brilliantly-white ‘snowflakes.’
Snowday blizzard puts on its best show in late June and will flower for a couple of weeks under moderate temperatures. Warm weather speeds up flower development while cold weather delays it so the flowering period can be a bit earlier or a bit later depending on the spring weather
Degree of difficulty: easy
If you check a Snowday Blizzard pearlbush tag at a nursery, you might see that it is listed as a ‘zone 4’ plant which puts it a zone warmer than ours. But while labels provide reasonable guidelines for how a plant will perform in a specific region, the proof is in the pudding.
Several of our staff grow and cherish their Snowday Blizzards and report that they have yet to see any winter dieback after three growing seasons. The only winter protection they provide is a bit of snow cover and even exposed branches have yet to succumb to winter cold damage.
Sunny locations are ideal for creating the best floral display, but planting your pearlbush is a spot with a bit of afternoon shade is just fine.
Now, keep in mind that most of the information to be found on Snowday Blizzard states that it will grow eight-feet tall, but I think four feet is a more reasonable height given the constraints of our climate.
When it comes to pruning, remember that pearlbush blooms on the previous year’s flower buds, so any pruning should be done immediately after flowering. This allows plenty of time for new flower buds to develop during the summer and thus be ready to burst forth the following June. Late pruning will not hurt the plant, but it will certainly reduce the floral display for the following year.
How perfect is it?
Any shrub that transforms from white pearls to white petals is just about perfect in my opinion.
And although I am no wedding expert, it seems to me that a row of Snowday Blizzard shrubs would provide the perfect backdrop for late June wedding photographs.
Now of course, by late June, the pearlbushes may have finished blooming but I think that stormy weather is far greater risk with respect to outdoor wedding photographs. Rainstorm not snowstorm, that is