Audubon® Native Spicebush

Take the next thrilling step in turning your landscape into a real habitat...the easy way! Although most flowering plants supply nectar for butterflies, there are only a few plants that are the preferred food for caterpillars. Well, the Audubon® Native Spicebush (Lindera benzoin), also feeds the birds! Not only will you love the good looks of this native (also spelled Spice Bush) you'll appreciate its spiced citrus-scented leaves.

Backed by thick light green leaves that offer a spicy fragrance when they are crushed or brushed passed. You can dry the leaves for yummy-smelling potpourri, and the leaves and twigs were once used for tea. Once fall temperatures start to dip, the leaves turn an attractive glowing-yellow hue, for an early start to the autumn season.

The pollinator-friendly, aromatic yellow-green blooms are held along early spring's bare branches in darling little clusters. Each flower cluster can have up to 15 star-shaped blooms that work to support pollinators. Black Spicebush Swallowtail butterflies lay their white eggs on the underside of the leaves. Newly hatched larva caterpillars feed on the leaves and grow quickly. These caterpillars are camouflaged with false eyespots that give them protection from predators and will enchant the young naturalists in your life.

Planting and Application:

All season long, this rounded shrub provides a lovely display and hedge, but also dense enough to provide cover and nesting sites for birds. Spicebush is dioecious, with separate male plants and female plants. It's recommended to grow groups of at least three to improve the chances of pollination. And you and your feathered friends want increased pollination! Once pollinated, female plants give way to bright red, eye-catching drupes that songbirds quickly seek out for a tasty meal.

Beyond feeding birds, these native deciduous shrubs have a broad, rounded habit and are fantastic privacy and screening, shelterbelts and for stopping drifting snow. Turn a suburban lot into a naturalized paradise! They'll love a spot near a water feature, as their natural setting is along stream beds and creeks. Try an undulating curve along the dappled edge of woodlands for their bold yellow tones in spring and fall.

• Fragrant Blooms & Leaves
• Unique Yellow Flower Clusters on Bare Branches
• Lush, Rounded Growth & Golden Fall Color
• Native Host Plant, Beneficial Pollinators & Bird-Friendly
• Showy Screen or Hedge, Rain Garden & Habitat

#ProPlantTips for Care:

Grow Spicebush in full sun for the most compact growth. Don't worry if you've run out of full sun. An established Spice Bush tolerates partial shade, moist soils, and even soils that dry out on occasion. Fall color is best in sunny areas and the habit becomes more open and wide-spreading in full shade. Give them slightly acidic, well-drained soils. Mulch with pine bark or pine straw to a depth of three inches, then pull it back away from directly touching the stems.

• Performs in Full Sun or Partial Shade
• Adapts to Wet or Dry Soils Once Established
• Appreciates Mulched Sites & Well-Drained Soil
• Prune After Flowering
• Rarely Damaged by Deer

Look closely at your Audubon® Native Spicebush over the season. You won't want to miss out on the special lifecycle of their biggest fans, the miraculous Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly! Order these incredible wildlife-friendly natives for your one naturalized habitat today from NatureHills.com!

Audubon® Plant Information

Bird-Friendly native trees and plants provide food and shelter for local and migrating birds, as well as other wildlife. By purchasing and planting native flora, you will support Audubon's conservation mission and impact, while helping birds and wildlife thrive!

• Grown Without Neonicotinoids
• Audubon® is Licensed & Registered to the National Audubon Society
• May Not Be Available in Non-Native Regions, States or Countries - Check Here
• Audubon® Native Plants & Trees are Exclusively Grown by Bower & Branch