Mountain Pepper Bush {Clethra acuminata} Organic Heirloom | NON GMO | Fragrant Showy Blooms | 30+ seeds Free Shipping! An underutilized medium-sized shrub native to rocky, mountainous sites in the southeastern United States. The 3-8" drooping racemes of fragrant, white flowers appear in July and August creating a wonderful effect in the garden. Plants are also pleasing in winter with their striking, exfoliating, cinnamon-red bark. Our specimen has grown without complaint for numerous years on a dry slope in the shadows of a native red oak. Mtn Pepper bush blooms heavily from mid to late summer in showy upright to drooping flower spikes filled with small white or pink flowers. Sweetly scented, the nectar - and pollen-rich flowers sustain bees and butterflies. In September to October, the foliage turns shades of yellow or gold when flowers give way to delicate dark brown seed capsules, which may persist into winter, unless consumed by hungry songbirds. Mtn Pepper bush performs beautifully as a specimen plant but is shown to best effect when grouped, and it makes a lovely shrub border. It’s perfect for naturalized areas around ponds and streams and for butterfly, native, shade, and woodland gardens. Cold hardy and trouble free, summersweet grows best in locations with part shade and moist, well-draining soils. It tolerates full sun or full shade but will not tolerate dry soil for long periods. It is disease, pest, and deer resistant. Germination In nature the tiny seeds of Clethra acuminata germinate after landing on moss. Collect the dry seed heads in late autumn and store over winter. In late spring shake out the seeds and sow under glass on the surface of moist vermiculate. Keep moist and allow light to fall on the seeds during daylight hours.