Fragrant sumac

Sun

Full sun to partial shade; autumn colour and flowering are usually best in full sun.

Water

Water regularly during the first growing season; established plants tolerate drought and usually need water only during prolonged dry spells.

Soil

Well-drained sandy, loamy, clay or rocky soil; tolerates acidic to alkaline conditions but dislikes persistently wet ground.

Height

2-6 ft (0.6-1.8 m), occasionally taller

Spread

6-10 ft (1.8-3 m), eventually wider through suckering

Flowers

Small yellow flowers in early spring, usually before the leaves emerge.

Foliage

Green leaves with three toothed leaflets; aromatic when crushed, turning yellow, orange, red or purple in autumn.

Growth

Moderate; established plants gradually form broad colonies.

Care needed

Low

• Pollinators
• Deer resistant
• Drought tolerant
• Cold hardy
• Heat tolerant
• Wildlife
• Low allergen
• Fragrant

Northern hemisphere months. In Australia, shift them by six.

Difficulty

Easy

Toughness

Very tough

Pick your zone, country, light and whether you have pets.

1. Planting day

   1.6 ft (0.5 m)

2. After 1 year

   2.1 ft (0.64 m)

3. After 2 years

   2.6 ft (0.78 m)

4. After 3 years

   3 ft (0.92 m)

5. After 5 years

   4 ft (1.2 m)

   full size

About 5 years to full size.

From a typical nursery size, at an average rate for this kind of plant. A rule of thumb, not a forecast.

Cats and dogs

Safe

Native to

the US and Canada

In the garden

Spreads vigorously: plan to contain it.

Growth rate

Moderate

• Water deeply during dry weather in the first growing season, allowing the soil surface to dry between waterings.
• Apply a light mulch over the root area, keeping it clear of the stems.
• Do not routinely fertilise; rich feeding is unnecessary on ordinary garden soil.
• Remove unwanted suckers at their point of origin if you need to limit the colony.
• Avoid sites where water stands after rain.

Pruning. Prune just after flowering, removing dead or damaged wood and cutting selected old stems to ground level. Hard renovation pruning in late winter is possible, but removes that spring's flowers and reduces the following fruit crop.

Late winter

Remove dead or broken stems; renovate an overgrown plant only if you can forgo flowers and fruit that year.

Spring

Plant while the soil is workable and keep new plants watered through dry spells.

Late spring

After flowering, thin crowded stems if needed and refresh the mulch.

Summer

Check young plants for drought stress and remove suckers spreading beyond the intended area.

Autumn

Plant or transplant during mild weather; leave fruit clusters for birds.

• Mass on sunny banks to provide low woody cover and help stabilise soil.
• Use along woodland edges where its autumn colour contrasts with evergreen trees.
• Combine with little bluestem and prairie flowers in a dry, naturalistic planting.
• Plant as an informal boundary or broad groundcover where suckers can spread without crowding smaller plants.

Garden styles it suits: Woodland, Wildlife garden, Low-maintenance, Autumn colour, Desert / xeriscape and Rewilded.

Plant it with: Little bluestem, Prairie dropseed, Butterfly weed, Purple coneflower, Black-eyed Susan and Eastern red cedar.

Wildlife: Early flowers provide food for visiting insects. Female plants produce hairy red fruit clusters that are eaten by birds and small mammals, and established colonies provide shelter.

• Unwanted spread: suckers can crowd nearby plants; remove them promptly or give the shrub a separate planting area.
• Root decline in wet soil: improve drainage or move the plant to a drier position rather than watering more often.
• Leaf spots or powdery mildew: usually cosmetic; improve airflow, avoid overhead watering and clear heavily affected fallen leaves.
• Few berries: plants usually bear male and female flowers separately, so an isolated female may need a nearby male flowering at the same time.

Not known to be toxic to people, cats, dogs or horses; no part is recognised as a significant poisoning hazard. Its red fruits have traditional food uses, but only use positively identified plants. Fragrant sumac is not poison sumac, though sensitive people may still experience skin irritation from handling it.

Where it spreads. Can spread vigorously by suckers and form colonies in eastern and central North American gardens, within its native range; allow space or control its edges.

• Poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans)

  Both have three leaflets, but fragrant sumac has a nearly stalkless central leaflet and hairy red fruits. Poison ivy usually has a distinctly stalked central leaflet, pale fruits and often a climbing habit;

• Poison sumac (Toxicodendron vernix)

  Poison sumac has leaves with 7-13 leaflets, pale fruits and a preference for wet ground. Fragrant sumac has three leaflets, red fruits and usually grows on well-drained sites.

• Skunkbush sumac (Rhus trilobata)

  A closely related western North American shrub with similar three-part leaves and red fruits. Its leaflets are often smaller and more deeply lobed, but the plants can be difficult to separate without provenance or a reg…

The species name aromatica and the common name fragrant sumac refer to the scent released when its leaves and stems are crushed.

Propagation. Separate rooted suckers during dormancy, or take softwood cuttings in early summer. Seed has a hard coat and dormancy requirements, so nursery propagation usually involves scarification followed by cold stratification.

Accepted botanical name

Rhus aromatica

In the US and Canada

Native in Canada and the lower 48 states.

Native range

Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky and Louisiana.

Measured

Soil pH 6.5 to 8. Average height 215 cm.

Sources: GBIF (CC BY 4.0), USDA PLANTS and Trefle (CC BY 4.0). The care and design notes are LandscapeGPT's own.