Clethra alnifolia Crystalina S

Summersweet Crystalina® (also sold as 'Sugartina'®) (Clethra alnifolia) is a compact 2-3 ft upright habit, glossy dark-green foliage, exceptionally fragrant white flower spikes. Clethra alnifolia is native to wet coastal woods and pondside margins of eastern North America, from Maine and New Brunswick south to Florida and west to Texas. It is not native to Oregon or the Pacific Northwest, but it has earned a dedicated place in PNW gardens as one of the most intensely fragrant summer-blooming shrubs you can grow.

Upright racemes open in July and August, releasing a sweet, almost spicy perfume that carries on still summer air. Honey bees, native bumblebees, sweat bees, skippers, swallowtails, and hummingbirds work the spikes heavily during a stretch of the season when few other shrubs are in bloom. Fall color shifts to a clean golden yellow.

Part shade to full sun. Thrives in moist to wet acidic soil and is among the best shrubs for rain gardens, pond edges, and low spots that stay damp. Will sucker gently to form a loose thicket; the dwarf cultivars stay much tidier. Zone 3-9. Tolerates salt spray, which makes it a good pick for PNW coastal gardens.

Pairs with Itea virginica, Hydrangea quercifolia, Vaccinium corymbosum, and native ferns for a fragrant, wildlife-rich moist-shade border.