Is Sweet Pepperbush deer resistant?
Clethra sp.
Plant typeShrubHardinessZones 4–9, genus rangeLightFull shade to part shade
MaintenanceLow, mostly leave it alone
About Sweet Pepperbush
One of very few shrubs that flowers in deep summer shade, with a scent that carries and draws every bee in the garden. Tolerates wet ground and salt spray. It suckers slowly into a colony, which suits a woodland edge.
Soil and care
- Soil pH
- 5 to 6.5
- Drainage
- Consistently moist
- Water
- High
- Spacing
- 47 to 71 in apart
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Maintenance
- Low
Similar to Sweet Pepperbush
Other shrubs with the same deer rating.
- Antelope BitterbrushPurshia tridentataSeldom damaged
- Anthony Waterer SpireaSpiraea x bumaldaZones 3–8Seldom damaged
- Apache PlumeFallugia paradoxaZones 6–10Seldom damaged
- Armstrong JuniperJuniperus chinensis 'Armstrongii'Zones 4–9Seldom damaged
- Autumn OliveElaeagnus umbellataZones 4–9Seldom damaged
- Autumn SageSalvia greggiiZones 6–9Seldom damaged
Where Sweet Pepperbush grows
Hardy across most of these 51 states on zone range alone. Mountain and coastal areas sit outside the ranges used here, so check your own zone before ordering.
- Pennsylvania
- New Jersey
- New York
- Connecticut
- Massachusetts
- Virginia
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Wisconsin
- Ohio
- Indiana
- Illinois
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- North Carolina
- Tennessee
- Georgia
- Texas
- Colorado
- California
- Oregon
- Washington
- New Hampshire
- Vermont
- Maine
- Rhode Island
- Delaware
- West Virginia
- Kentucky
- South Carolina
- Florida
- Alabama
- Mississippi
- Louisiana
- Arkansas
- Oklahoma
- Kansas
- Nebraska
- Iowa
- North Dakota
- South Dakota
- Montana
- Wyoming
- Idaho
- Utah
- Nevada
- Arizona
- New Mexico
- Alaska
- District of Columbia
- Hawaii
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Every list Sweet Pepperbush belongs to.
Hardy in these zones
Common questions about Sweet Pepperbush
- Is Sweet Pepperbush deer resistant?
- Sweet Pepperbush (Clethra sp.) is rated Seldom Severely Damaged on the Rutgers NJAES four-tier scale. Light browsing at worst; rarely ruined.
- What hardiness zones does Sweet Pepperbush grow in?
- Sweet Pepperbush is hardy in USDA zones 4 to 9. Outside that range it will either not survive winter or will struggle with summer heat. That is the range across the genus, so a named species or cultivar may be narrower.
- Does Sweet Pepperbush grow in shade?
- Yes. Sweet Pepperbush tolerates full shade to part shade, which makes it one of the options for a shaded bed where deer also browse.