Fothergilla x intermedia ‘Mt.Airy’

The two species in this genus (which is related to witch hazels) live far apart from one another in the American SE, one in pocosins (shrub bogs) the other on rocky outcroppings in the mountains. It isn’t until the plants were grown together (in nurseries and arboretum collections) that the two were able to hybridize. This particular hybrid form was introduced by Michael Dirr from the Mt. Airy Arboretum in Cincinnati, Ohio.
It’s a lovely shrub, with spikey white honey-scented flowers in the spring, blue-green foliage in the summer and, especially with a bit of sun, good fall color. Growing and propagating from cuttings is easy; it requires similar conditions as rhododendrons. Sometimes called: Witch-alder.