Pearlbush is one of the underappreciated pleasures of the spring garden, and ‘Blizzard’ is the cultivar that makes the strongest case for the genus. Native to China, Korea, and Central Asia, Exochorda racemosa has for too long been overlooked beside its louder spring companions, but a well-grown specimen in full flower gives forsythia genuine competition. ‘Blizzard’ grows into a neat, upright to mounded form, reaching 3 to 4 feet in both directions, with flower buds in early spring that look exactly like white pearls strung along every branch.

What distinguishes ‘Blizzard’ from other cultivars is the extraordinary quantity and size of its flowers, which can run nearly twice as large as those of older selections. Butterflies take note of the bloom. The plant grows happily in average, well-drained soil and tolerates drought and heat once it settles in. Because it flowers on old wood, any pruning should wait until the blossoms have fully dropped. The tidy, structured habit avoids the tangled cascade that sometimes develops in older pearlbush forms.