Snowball Viburnum vs Water Arum - TreeTime.ca

Snowball Viburnum vs Water Arum

Viburnum opulus roseum

Calla palustris

COMING SOON

(new stock expected: fall of 2025)

CUSTOM GROW

Snowball Viburnum
Water Arum

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.

Water Arum is a native perennial wetland plant known for its showy white oval sheaths (spathe) that surround a yellow-green, cylindrical flower spike (spadix). It has large, oblong, heart-shaped leaves on stems that rise above the water from shallow, spreading rhizomes. The blossoms are followed in late summer by tiny, pear-shaped fruits that ripen to bright red, adding ornamental interest to wet habitats.

Water Arum provides food for birds and small mammals that eat its berries, and its flowers attract pollinators. It can tolerate cold climates and forms colonies in shallow water and saturated soils. It is well-suited for ecological restoration, riparian planting, naturalisation, and habitat projects in wet and shaded environments.

Snowball Viburnum Quick Facts

Water Arum Quick Facts

Zone: 3b
Zone: 1b
Height: 3 m (10 ft)
Height: 0.2 m (0.8 ft)
Spread: 3 m (10 ft)
Spread: 0.2 m (0.8 ft)
Light: partial shade, full sun
Light: shade, partial shade
Moisture: normal
Moisture: wet
Growth rate: medium
Growth rate: medium
Life span: medium
Life span: short
Growth form: colony-forming
Spreading: rhizomes - medium, seeds - low
Suckering: low


Toxicity: toxic if ingested
Fall colour: purplish-red
Bark: gold to gray
Flowers: white
Flowers: white sheath around and yellow spike
Bloom time: spring to summer
Berries: red, in clusters
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Native to: AB, BC, SK, MB, ON, QC, NS, NB, NL, YT, NT, PE
Other Names: european cranberrybush, guelder rose, snowball bush, snowball tree
Other Names: bog arum, swamp lily, wild calla, wild dragon