Snowball Viburnum vs Purple Pitcher Plant - TreeTime.ca

Snowball Viburnum vs Purple Pitcher Plant

Viburnum opulus roseum

Sarracenia purpurea

COMING SOON

(new stock expected: fall of 2025)

CUSTOM GROW

Snowball Viburnum
Purple Pitcher Plant

Snowball Viburnum is a popular ornamental shrub with prolific flowering. This plant is prized for its round clusters of white flowers that resemble snowballs, delighting children and adults. In fall, its leaves turn vibrant shades of red.

Snowball Viburnum is sought after as a single accent shrub, but can also make a dense hedge or privacy screen.

Purple Pitcher Plant is a native carnivorous plant, easily recognized by its purple-tinged, tubular pitchers that capture and digest insects. The nectar along the rim attracts insects to the pitcher, where slippery surfaces and downward-pointing hairs cause them to fall into the fluid below. Once inside, they are broken down, providing nutrients that allow the plant to thrive in nutrient-poor soils.
The plant produces nodding, purple-red flowers held high above the leaves. Interestingly, these blooms are pollinated by the Pitcher Plant Fly (Fletcherimyia fletcheri), whose larvae live in the fluid of the pitchers and feed on some of the trapped insects. It can be found in bogs, fens, and other wetlands. It is well-suited for wetland gardens, restoration, and naturalisation projects.
The Purple Pitcher Plant can be challenging to grow because of its specific requirements. It thrives in consistently moist (but not waterlogged), acidic soil, with a peat-and-sand mix typically recommended. The plant is sensitive to fertilizers, dissolved salts, and chlorinated water. When given the right conditions, full sun will bring out its brightest colors.
The Purple Pitcher Plant is the provincial flower of Newfoundland & Labrador.

Snowball Viburnum Quick Facts

Purple Pitcher Plant Quick Facts

Zone: 3b
Zone: 2b
Height: 3 m (10 ft)
Height: 0.3 m (1.0 ft)
Spread: 3 m (10 ft)
Spread: 0.5 m (1.5 ft)
Light: partial shade, full sun
Light: partial shade, full sun
Moisture: normal
Moisture: wet
Growth rate: medium
Growth rate: medium
Life span: medium
Life span: medium
Growth form: decumbent to upright, colony-forming
Spreading: rhizomes - medium
Suckering: low


Foliage: red to purple, tubular pitchers with hooded tops
Fall colour: purplish-red
Bark: gold to gray
Flowers: white
Flowers: large nodding red flowers
Bloom time: summer
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Native to: AB, BC, SK, MB, ON, QC, NS, NB, NL, NT, NU, PE
Other Names: european cranberrybush, guelder rose, snowball bush, snowball tree
Other Names: huntsmans cup, northern pitcher plant