Clethra alnifolia "Sixteen Candles" Open House Country people knew the plant

Country people knew the plant as Sweet Pepperbush

when the cool-season garden most wants light

Dryopteris expansa

Like most agaves

The species name mutabilis

Clethra alnifolia "Sixteen Candles" Open House Country people knew the plantSummersweet has long been a shrub gardeners plant by the nose. Native to the moist woods and pond margins of the eastern United States, Clethra alnifolia earned the old country names Sweet Pepperbush and Summersweet for the honey and clove perfume that pours off the white summer spikes, a scent that carries clear across a garden on a warm afternoon. Colonists found a further use for the plant: the flowers, crushed in water, raise a soft lather, and