My doublefile viburnum (mariesii) quadrupled in size in one year, and by the
third year, I was having to give her a haircut every spring, as she reached
6 feet tall and about 10 feet in diameter. Either our soil is even richer
than I thought, or I accidentally found her the conditions she likes. She is
in part shade (all shade during the winter -north side of the house) in
fairly clayish rich black volcanic soil, but very rocky.
"Newt" One of the loveliest viburnums is the Viburnum plicatum var.
tomentosum
and they're hardy in your zone. Also known as doublefile viburnum
because it blooms in clusters along the horizontal stems with a row of
blossoms on each side of the stem, creating a double row. Consider
Viburnum plicatum 'Summer Snowflake' that gets up to 10' tall but only
6' wide, or it's larger cousin Viburnum plicatum 'Shasta'. There is
even a variegated 'Shasta' now. Shasta can get quite wide, and in front
of a group of three hollies, you would only need one to knock your socks
off when it's mature in size and in bloom. The 'tomentosum' viburnums
have layerd branches and sometimes people think they are some type of
dogwood tree.
http://tinyurl.com/crxcd

In five years a one gallon pot (if you can find one that small) will
probably have doubled in size. Larger ones may take a little longer.
Figure when planting the saying: "The first year they sleep, the second
year they creep and the third year they leap." It will take them a year
to establish their root systems and you will need to water, in the
winter too if there's no snow cover and it's dry. Of course if you get
lake effect snow, no problem. You'll just have to worry about drying
winds!

Newt


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Newt