This is a wonderful species for landscapes in that it is neat and clean and has good ornamental characteristics of good foliage, flowers, fall color, and winter form. Its ashy gray twigs are flexible and sort of rubbery. The mother species is often about 3 feet high in nature, but can get to 6 feet or more. It does do some ground suckering. Its native range when discovered by botanists is in coastal North & South Carolina to eastern Tennessee down to spots in Alabama & Georgia, into northwest Florida in swamps, bottomlands, along watercourses, around and in upland woods. There are a number of cultivars selected. 'Mount Airy' is the most common one growing about 5 to 6 feet high.

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These shrubs never knock my socks off when I see just one... but every time I see this hedge of them at the Philly Flower Show, I think, WOW! I need to get some of these!

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