Large Fothergilla                foth-er-GIL-a MAY-jor

• Deciduous shrub, generally upright, 6-10 ft (1.8-3 m), similar spread.   Leaves alternate, simple, oval to obovate, 5-10 cm long, coarsely crenate-dentate or denticulate above the middle, glabrous and blue-green to dark green above, glaucous (without hairs) or stelate-(star-like)-pubescent below, at least on the veins.  Fall color from yellow to orange to scarlet.  Flowers, which are without petals, have a bottle-brush look, 2.5 -5 cm long, whitish, the stamens are the showy portions (white stamens and yellow anthers), fragrant, tend to appear with the foliage, may last for several weeks.
• Sun or part shade.  Adaptable, but best in acid, well-drained, moist, soil, with adequate organic matter.
• Hardy to USDA Zone 4      Native to the Allegheny Mountains from northern North Carolina and Tennessee to northern Alabama.   A few cultivars are available, 'Mt. Airy' is probably the most popular.  This plant was discovered by Michael Dirr at the Mt. Airy Arboretum in Cincinnati, Ohio.  'Mt. Airy' produces abundant flowers, has blue-green leaves, and generally good fall color.  'Mt. Airy' is sometimes listed as a cultivar of F. gardenii, in part because it suckers, a characteristic of that species but not of F. major; some consider 'Mt. Airy' a hybrid of the two species.
• major: larger.
• Portland, Oregon: Elk Rock
• Silverton, Oregon: Oregon Garden