Large Fothergilla is a rounded, multistemmed, deciduous shrub with erect stems and noted for its fall foliage. The leaves are 2 to 4 inches long and wide and display a fall color that ranges from yellow to orange to scarlet. The flowers, which do not have petals, have a bottle-brush look, 3 inches long, with a slight honey fragrance and tend to appear with the foliage and last for several weeks. It is a slow growing plant. In contrast to the smaller Dwarf Fothergilla, Large Fothergilla matures to a height of 12 feet and a width of 10 feet. Large Fothergilla is native to the mountainous regions of the Southeastern United States. Large Fothergilla does best in full sun or part shade in average, medium moist, well-drained soil, although it is adaptable to various soil types. It prefers acidic, well-drained, moist, soil, with adequate organic matter. It is drought tolerant and seldom damaged by deer. It may spread by root suckers to form colonies if suckers are not promptly removed. Use this shrub in the native pollinator garden, rain garden or as a foundation plant. It is attractive to bees and butterflies. Diseases, Insect Pests, and Other Plant Problems: No significant problems.
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.
Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day) | Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
Soil texture
Clay; High Organic Matter; Loam (Silt); Sand
Soil pH
Acid (<6.0)
Soil drainage
Good Drainage | Moist | Occasionally Dry | Occasionally Wet
NC region
Mountains; Piedmont
Mature size
Height: 6 ft. 0 in. - 12 ft. 0 in. | Width: 6 ft. 0 in. - 10 ft. 0 in.
Growth rate
Medium
Canopy layer
3 - Shrub (3-15 ft)
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Erect; Multi-stemmed; Rounded
Texture
Medium
Foliage
Deciduous
Leaf color
Blue; Gray/Silver; Green; White
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf margin
Denticulate
Leaf feel
Leathery
Leaf size
1-3 inches long, 1-3 inches wide
Hairs present
Yes
Leaf detail
Alternate, simple, leathery, blue-green to dark green leaves; with grayish to whitish underside with pubescent veins. 2 to 4 inches long and almost as wide. Coarsely denticulate on the upper half of the leaf. Red, orange, yellow fall color on each individual leaf.
Fall color
Gold/Yellow; Orange; Red/Burgundy
Flower color
White
Flower value
Fragrant; Showy
Flower form
Spike
Flower shape
Cup
Flower size
1-3 inches
Flower detail
1 to 3 inch bottlebrush-like spike of white apetalous flowers from April to May. The sepals form a small cup and the 12 to 32 white filaments. (stamens) are in the center. The fragrance varies from none to honey-like.
Bloom time
Spring
Fruit color
Brown/Copper
Fruit type
Capsule
Fruit detail
Brown capsule with two curved horn-like projections (styles) displays from July to October.
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Native
Origin
Mountanous regions of Southeast US.
Wildlife value
Birds and butterflies are attracted to the flowers.