Seven-son Flower Heptacodium miconioides

Seven-son flower is a small tree or large shrub in the Caprifoliaceae family.  It is known for bringing its stellar display of late-season, fragrant, nectar-rich flowers that attract beeds, monarch butterflies and other pollinators.  The beautiful fruits and showy bark bring fall and winter interest to the landscape.  

Buds appear in early summer and are almost forgotten until clusters of seven small flowers cover the entire canopy in fragrant, white petals every September. After the veil of white fades, the flower’s sturdier calyx wraps rounded seeds in vivid colors of cherry red to rose-purple.

Winter reveals the beautiful exfoliating bark. Stems as small as ½ inch can have their gray-brown bark peel back to show a lighter, inner surface, most evident in the colder months when the plant is without its deciduous canopy.

This tree can grow 10- to 20-feet tall and half as wide in a fountain-like shrub or single-trunk tree forms, depending on the gardener’s choice and pruning. This moderately fast grower thrives in a range of soils from poor to rich while preferring not to dry out completely. This member of the honeysuckle family is not an aggressive self-propagator. It is easily transplanted from containers.

All of these features combine to make this a versatile specimen or complimentary plant with a relatively small footprint for a focus in a somewhat-shaded urban garden or as a standout in a much larger design.