Clethra alnifolia "Sixteen Candles" Open House Every cup of green tea

Every cup of green tea

stony ground

The species name mutabilis

" a nod to the swampy bottomlands

This particular rockrose is a natural-looking hybrid of two Mediterranean species

Clethra alnifolia "Sixteen Candles" Open House Every cup of green teaSummersweet 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