Cold hardiness & minimum temperature

Is Burkwood Viburnum (Viburnum × burkwoodii)cold hardy? Hardiness zone & min temp

Also called Burkwood Viburnum.

More about burkwood viburnum

About Burkwood Viburnum

Viburnum × burkwoodii · also called Burkwood Viburnum · flowering

Burkwood Viburnum is a vigorous, semi-evergreen hybrid grown for its sweetly clove-scented spring flowers, opening from pink buds into rounded white snowball clusters. Its glossy dark-green leaves are more lustrous than its Korean Spice parent and persist into mild winters. Tough and adaptable, it thrives in full sun to part shade in moist, well-drained soil and shrugs off heat and cold better than V. carlesii.

Cold limit: USDA 5-8 · RHS H5 (-29 to 32°C)

Watch for — Viburnum leaf beetle: Chewed, lacy foliage from larvae and adults. Scout new growth in spring, prune out egg-bearing twigs over winter, and treat only significant outbreaks.

What burkwood viburnum's hardiness rating actually means

Yes — burkwood viburnum is genuinely cold hardy. Rated RHS H5 and USDA 5-8, it lives outdoors all year and needs winter cold rather than protection from it. Its RHS rating of H5 means: Hardy in most of the UK and in cold winters. On the US scale that maps to USDA 5-8 — the zones where it can be left outdoors year-round.

New to these scales? The USDA hardiness zone map explained covers how the zone numbers work, and you can find your own zone with the zone finder.

Minimum temperature — and what happens below it

Minimum survivable temperature is roughly about −15 to −10 °C. Burkwood Viburnum is built for winter — once established it takes hard frost and snow in its stride.

Concretely, for burkwood viburnum as it gets too cold:

It tolerates winter lows to about −15 to −10 °C once established.
Below its rated zone, the visible damage is browned or blackened top growth and, in the worst case, a killed crown or root.
First-year, newly planted, or container-grown specimens are noticeably less hardy than established garden plants — the roots are exposed.

Can burkwood viburnum go outside or overwinter — and where?

Plant it out within USDA 5-8 and it overwinters with little or no help.
It does not want to come indoors — a warm winter room actually weakens a hardy plant by denying it dormancy.
The real risks in its range are waterlogging, wind-rock on young plants, and a late hard frost on new growth — not ordinary winter cold.

Work back from your local frost dates with the frost-date calculator: the last spring frost and first autumn frost are what really decide when burkwood viburnum can be outside. US growers can check USDA zones; UK growers should use the RHS hardiness ratings, which match the H5 figure above.

Burkwood Viburnum hardiness — frequently asked questions

Is burkwood viburnum cold hardy?

Yes — burkwood viburnum is genuinely cold hardy. Rated RHS H5 and USDA 5-8, it lives outdoors all year and needs winter cold rather than protection from it. An outdoor plant. Burkwood Viburnum is hardy across USDA 5-8; it belongs in the ground or a frost-proof container, not on a windowsill, and many types actively need a cold winter to perform.

What is the minimum temperature burkwood viburnum can survive?

Minimum survivable temperature is roughly about −15 to −10 °C. Burkwood Viburnum is built for winter — once established it takes hard frost and snow in its stride.

What hardiness zone is burkwood viburnum?

Burkwood Viburnum is rated USDA 5-8 and RHS H5 — Hardy in most of the UK and in cold winters.

Can burkwood viburnum survive winter outside?

Plant it out within USDA 5-8 and it overwinters with little or no help. It does not want to come indoors — a warm winter room actually weakens a hardy plant by denying it dormancy. The real risks in its range are waterlogging, wind-rock on young plants, and a late hard frost on new growth — not ordinary winter cold.

What happens to burkwood viburnum below its minimum temperature?

It tolerates winter lows to about −15 to −10 °C once established. Below its rated zone, the visible damage is browned or blackened top growth and, in the worst case, a killed crown or root. First-year, newly planted, or container-grown specimens are noticeably less hardy than established garden plants — the roots are exposed.