The hordes of bees and butterflies are long gone from the beds and borders, but for weeks in August there was a constant buzz and flutter over the fragrant, jasmine-like blooms of the seven-son Flower, a shrub whose Latin name—Heptacodium—is a mouthful. It’s Hepta, derived from the Latin word for “seven” and “codium” referring to “head.”  

The shrub hails from the mountains of China and was first collected by plant explorer E. H. Wilson in 1907. It was rediscovered in the 1980s and propagated in the U.S. but it has taken more than two decades to become somewhat available at local garden centers. It deserves to be used much more, especially in smaller urban gardens where space is limited or as a backdrop in deep perennial borders. Along our road, two of these shrubs rub elbows with ‘Prairifire’ crabapple, purple smokebush, witch hazel, hydrangeas, miscanthus grasses and bottlebrush buckeye. 

There are many things to recommend Heptacodium—which can either be grown as a small tree or a large shrub, since its ultimate height is about 15 to 18 feet tall and 8 to 12 feet wide. In May, its wavy-edged, glossy leaves hang down like those on a peach tree. When it’s finished blooming in September, the flowers are replaced with deep red fruits—the calyx (the outer layer of the flower), which look like red blossoms. Once it drops its leaves, Heptacodium continues the show when its attractive, multi-stemmed trunks show off tan, peeling bark.

Give this multi-season performer a spot with well-drained soil in full sun to light shade.  So far it's been pest- and disease-resistant and its only drawback is a sometimes gawky shape, like a teenager slouching against a wall. A little pruning in winter will keep it well behaved.

—Nina Koziol