{"id":1692,"date":"2026-10-29T18:15:20","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T18:15:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/?page_id=1692"},"modified":"2026-10-29T18:15:20","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T18:15:20","slug":"sweet-pepperbush","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/sweet-pepperbush\/","title":{"rendered":"Sweet Pepperbush"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><b>Sweet Pepperbush<\/b><\/h3>\n<h4><strong><em>Clethra alnifolia<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n<h5>Family: <em>Clethraceae<\/em><\/h5>\n<h5>Phonetic spelling: <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">KLETH-ruh al-nih-FOH-lee-ah<\/span><\/h5>\n<h6>By Talia Gould<\/h6>\n<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-1692 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-large'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/growers-guides\/native-shrub-trials\/img_8009\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1396\/2026\/10\/IMG_8009-768x1024.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1396\/2026\/10\/IMG_8009-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1396\/2026\/10\/IMG_8009-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1396\/2026\/10\/IMG_8009-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1396\/2026\/10\/IMG_8009-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1396\/2026\/10\/IMG_8009-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/sweet-pepperbush\/img_8011\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1396\/2026\/10\/IMG_8011-768x1024.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1396\/2026\/10\/IMG_8011-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1396\/2026\/10\/IMG_8011-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1396\/2026\/10\/IMG_8011-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1396\/2026\/10\/IMG_8011-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1396\/2026\/10\/IMG_8011-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/sweet-pepperbush\/img_8013\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1396\/2026\/10\/IMG_8013-768x1024.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1396\/2026\/10\/IMG_8013-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1396\/2026\/10\/IMG_8013-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1396\/2026\/10\/IMG_8013-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1396\/2026\/10\/IMG_8013-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1396\/2026\/10\/IMG_8013-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/sweet-pepperbush\/img_7774\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1396\/2026\/10\/IMG_7774-768x1024.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1396\/2026\/10\/IMG_7774-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1396\/2026\/10\/IMG_7774-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1396\/2026\/10\/IMG_7774-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1396\/2026\/10\/IMG_7774-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1396\/2026\/10\/IMG_7774-scaled.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/sweet-pepperbush\/img_8015\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1396\/2026\/10\/IMG_8015-768x1024.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1396\/2026\/10\/IMG_8015-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1396\/2026\/10\/IMG_8015-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1396\/2026\/10\/IMG_8015-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1396\/2026\/10\/IMG_8015-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1396\/2026\/10\/IMG_8015-scaled.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<h4><\/h4>\n<h4><strong>Description:<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Clethra alnifolia<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, commonly known as sweet pepperbush or summer sweet, is a deciduous perennial shrub native to eastern and southern North America ranging naturally from Maine down to Florida and west to Texas. In the wild it can be found in swamps, sandy woods, and water edges. Typically, it grows as a multi-stemmed, rounded shrub reaching 3-8 feet tall with a 4-6 foot spread. The plants feature glossy dark green leaves that transition to yellow or golden-brown in autumn. Small, white, intensely fragrant flowers grow in dense clusters producing high-quality nectar and pollen that supports butterflies, bees, hummingbirds and other pollinators July-August. The flowers are followed by dark brown capsules that mature in the fall and provide bird seeds in the winter. It is unique to other flowering shrubs because it blooms in shady locations like forest under-stories when other shrubs have already gone through bloom.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Clethra alnifolia<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> performs well in moist, acidic soils in full sun to partial shade. In its native habitat or in similar conditions, it produces suckers that will form small thickets providing effective soil erosion control in rain gardens and wetlands. <\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Plant Details<\/b><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Growing Conditions: <\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">USA Hardiness Zones: 3 to 9 (dormant plants can tolerate temperatures down to -22\u00b0F).<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Sun Exposure: <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Full sun to partial shade; Tolerates heavy shade.<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Moisture Requirements: Medium to wet. Prefers consistently wet conditions and can tolerate periodic floods but not hot, dry sites.<\/li>\n<li>Soil Preferences: Prefers acidic (pH &lt;6.0) soil.<\/li>\n<li>Soil Texture: Clay, Loam, Sand.<\/li>\n<li>Soil Moisture: Moist to wet.<\/li>\n<li>Pruning &amp; Maintenance: Low maintenance. Responds well to pruning in late winter and early spring. Remove root suckers unless thicket formation is desired.<\/li>\n<li>Bloom Time: July-August.<\/li>\n<li>Recommended Propagation Strategy: Stem cuttings, seed, division.<\/li>\n<li>Straight Species Size: 3-8\u2019 tall x 4-6\u2019 wide.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ecological Services:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Nectar Source: Fragrant summer flowers provide heavy nectar for native bees, honeybees, butterflies, and hummingbirds after many other plants have stopped blooming.<\/li>\n<li>Food Source: Persistent seed capsules are a reliable late-season and winter food source for many small mammals and songbirds.<\/li>\n<li>Cover &amp; Nesting: Dense branching provides structural cover for nesting sites.<\/li>\n<li>Erosion Control: Underground root systems form dense thickets that stabilize soil along pond edges, stream banks and slopes.<\/li>\n<li>Beneficial Insects &amp; Birds: Native bees, honey bees, butterflies, and birds. Hummingbirds.<\/li>\n<li>Larval Host: <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">10 species of butterflies and moths use this as a caterpillar host plant.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Columbia silkmoth <em>(Hyalophora columbia)<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Large Lace Border (<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Scopula limboundata)\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Isabella Tiger Moth (<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Pyrrharctia isabella)\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sweet Pepperbush Nola (<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nola Clethrae)\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Inornate Olethreutes (<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Olethreutes inornatana (Clemens, 1860))<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Zigzag Herpetogramma (<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Herpetogramma thestealis)<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Insects, Diseases or Problems: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/two-spotted-spider-mite\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Spidermites <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">present an issue if the plant is grown in dry conditions. When planted in the proper conditions it is insect and disease resistant. Deer generally dislike the aromatic leaves and blooms making this plant a reliable deer-resistant shrub.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Cultivars:<\/strong><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sweet Pepperbush Clethra alnifolia Family: Clethraceae Phonetic spelling: KLETH-ruh al-nih-FOH-lee-ah By Talia Gould Description: Clethra alnifolia, commonly known as sweet pepperbush or summer sweet, is a deciduous perennial shrub native &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/sweet-pepperbush\/\" class=\"\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4814,"featured_media":1741,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1692","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Sweet Pepperbush - Nursery IPM<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Clethra alnifolia, commonly known as sweet pepperbush or summer sweet, is a deciduous perennial shrub native to eastern and southern North America ranging naturally from Maine down to Florida and west to Texas. In the wild it can be found in swamps, sandy woods, and water edges. Typically, it grows as a multi-stemmed, rounded shrub reaching 3-8 feet tall with a 4-6 foot spread. The plants feature glossy dark green leaves that transition to yellow or golden-brown in autumn. Small, white, intensely fragrant flowers grow in dense clusters producing high-quality nectar and pollen that support butterflies, bees, hummingbirds and other pollinators July-August. The flowers are followed by dark brown capsules that mature in the fall and provide bird seeds in the winter. It is unique to other flowering shrubs because it blooms in shady locations like forest under-stories when other shrubs have already gone through bloom.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/sweet-pepperbush\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sweet Pepperbush - Nursery IPM\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Clethra alnifolia, commonly known as sweet pepperbush or summer sweet, is a deciduous perennial shrub native to eastern and southern North America ranging naturally from Maine down to Florida and west to Texas. In the wild it can be found in swamps, sandy woods, and water edges. Typically, it grows as a multi-stemmed, rounded shrub reaching 3-8 feet tall with a 4-6 foot spread. The plants feature glossy dark green leaves that transition to yellow or golden-brown in autumn. Small, white, intensely fragrant flowers grow in dense clusters producing high-quality nectar and pollen that support butterflies, bees, hummingbirds and other pollinators July-August. The flowers are followed by dark brown capsules that mature in the fall and provide bird seeds in the winter. It is unique to other flowering shrubs because it blooms in shady locations like forest under-stories when other shrubs have already gone through bloom.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/sweet-pepperbush\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nursery IPM\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1396\/2026\/10\/IMG_8020-scaled.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/sweet-pepperbush\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/sweet-pepperbush\/\",\"name\":\"Sweet Pepperbush - Nursery IPM\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/sweet-pepperbush\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/sweet-pepperbush\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nursery-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1396\/2026\/10\/IMG_8020-scaled.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-29T18:15:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-29T18:15:20+00:00\",\"description\":\"Clethra alnifolia, commonly known as sweet pepperbush or summer sweet, is a deciduous perennial shrub native to eastern and southern North America ranging naturally from Maine down to Florida and west to Texas. 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In the wild it can be found in swamps, sandy woods, and water edges. Typically, it grows as a multi-stemmed, rounded shrub reaching 3-8 feet tall with a 4-6 foot spread. The plants feature glossy dark green leaves that transition to yellow or golden-brown in autumn. Small, white, intensely fragrant flowers grow in dense clusters producing high-quality nectar and pollen that support butterflies, bees, hummingbirds and other pollinators July-August. The flowers are followed by dark brown capsules that mature in the fall and provide bird seeds in the winter. 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