S HRUBS ARE THE PEOPLE-SIZED PART OF THE LANDSCAPE, the middle layer that you cannot make a garden without. If you go and skip the shrubs, the transition from tree to perennial is just too drastic, don’t you think? I tried to pick one kind to profile today—lilacs, perhaps, or twig dogwoods (both in the photo above and both treating me to a show at the moment) or maybe a viburnum?—but I failed to single anybody out. Instead, a tour of springtime’s shrubs so far at A Way to Garden, in words and pictures:
Click on the first thumbnail to get started, then navigate from slide to slide using the arrows alongside each caption. Enjoy. Oh, and if you need some really tough groundcovers for under all those shrubs…
Say “spring shrubs” and many people immediately think of lilacs, and I grow many of them. But the springtime shrub show here starts more than a month before the first of the Syringa blooms. (That’s the good upright purple ‘Agincourt Beauty,’ by the way.)
The shrub season begins in late March, with the giant pussy willow, Salix chaenomeloides. Its extra-early fuzzy blooms expand to a few inches high as they develop over a couple of weeks.
The bark of the giant pussy willow has the most curious red markings; I am constantly reminded to look closer at plants than just at their blooms, and here’s another example. The full profile of this Salix: https://awaytogarden.com/giant-pussy-willow-salix-chaenomeloides
At about the first week of April, daring creatures like the Cornelian cherry, or Cornus mas, join the show. This native dogwood also produces red fruits that the birds love (hence the common name). Its full profile: https://awaytogarden.com/before-forsythia-cornus-mas
Another extra-early subject: Corylopsis spicata, or winter-hazel, one of the first shrubs I planted when I moved here, even though it was said not to be inclined to bloom in so cold a climate.
Over the 20 years I have grown the winter-hazel, Corylopsis spicata, it has continued to spread and spread in its zig-zag manner to more than 15 feet across at present.
I am fascinated by the Corylopsis’s little details: how the unfurling leaves leave behind these persistent pink bits.
The native shadbush, or Amelanchier, are a welcome sight, a delicate haze of white along the edges of the woods here and prominent member of various shrub borders, where I have also planted some. They produce fruit for birds, hot fall foliage, and have great structure and nice gray bark as well.
The first scent in the early garden comes from the powerfully perfumed Daphne mezereum, tucked beside the big golden Chamaecyparis ‘Crippsii’ out back.
The daphne’s flowers come in purple or white (I prefer the former, obviously); the shrub is otherwise nondescript, but the aroma unforgettable and a real treat in early April.
The native spicebush, Lindera benzoin, is a treat in spring (one of my favorite forsythia alternatives), a vast haze of tiny yellow flowers. Read its full profile: https://awaytogarden.com/forsythia-alternatives-pt-2-spicebush
In autumn, the spicebush produces the most vivid and latest yellow color in the entire garden here (and there is also small fruit for the birds, not showy but wildlife-friendly).
A long-lasting earlybird is Fothergilla, with bottlebrush-shaped creamy blooms followed by witchhazel-like foliage that in late fall turns various shades of orange and reddish and even purple.
A curiosity that I grow is native Dirca palustris, or leatherwood, shaped like a small rounded tree and growing over many years to about 6 feet tall. It blooms in late April here, with tiny yellow brush-like flowers.
Late April is also the time for the first Spirea, S. thunbergii ‘Ogon,’ which I grow for its finely textured golden foliage more than for its blooms.
By the time we reach May, another Daphne, the variegated x burkwoodii cultivar called ‘Carol Mackie,’ is perfuming the back patio, where it’s planted in a pocket between the pavers.
Its profusion of tiny pinkish flowers cover the plant as the creamy-edged leaves unfurl gradually. One caveat: Never count on a Daphne to stay with you forever. One year they just up and die…split apart, or just drop dead. And then you start again if, like me, you like their perfume.
The variegated Kerria, K. japonica ‘Picta,’ is a swirl of egg-yolk gold flowers and tiny green and white leaves. I love it in the shady garden; read more about it here: https://awaytogarden.com/great-shrubs-kerria-japonica-%E2%80%98picta%E2%80%99
I grow a lot of twig dogwoods for their gold or red winter stems, but this one, Cornus sericea ‘Sunshine’ is also a delight in spring through fall for its gold leaves.
A detail of Cornus sericea ‘Sunshine’ in bloom in mid-May.
My favorite gold-twig dogwood is Cornus sericea ‘Silver and Gold,’ with yellow twigs and the cleanest-looking variegated foliage all summer. It just gleams.
In autumn and winter, the ‘Silver and Gold’ twigs up by some yellow-fruited crabapples on the hillside.
I have a thing for Viburnum, and so do the birds. The decidedly horizontal doublefile, V. plicatum tomentosum, is a real winner: flowers, fruit, and reddish fall foliage color, too.
A detail of the typical doublefile flower, in mid-May.
A somewhat rangy and tree-like Viburnum, V. sieboldii, with pleated leaves that smell like green peppers when bruised (a great way to confirm your ID of the plant).
The siebold viburnum’s fruit…will be gone before it fully colors up. Birds love this plant, as they do the doublefile. A story from the blog on Viburnum: https://awaytogarden.com/think-fall-yes-fall
Even rangier and less “wow” in spring than the siebold viburnum: V. setigerum, the tea viburnum. But you won’t want to miss it because…
…the dangling coral fruits are among the best of any variety, I think.
I don’t grow much here in the way of Rhododendron, but I do like the Yakushimanum types. Their leaves are felted on the undersides, all tan-colored and fuzzy and yummy, and they are happy in the shade of other shrubs (this one grows below a lilac, and has protection from winterburn from the shed to its left as well).
I suppose I must include a few conifers, because without them all would be lost. The spreading golden yew, Taxus baccata ‘Repandens Aurea,’ is particularly handsome in spring and summer, when its new growth is pure gold. Read more: https://awaytogarden.com/beloved-conifer-golden-spreading-yew
Speaking of horizontal, spreading conifers…the spreading plum yew, Cephalotaxus harringtonia ‘Prostrata,’ not meant to be hardy here but definitely so for many years, is approaching 10 feet across. (They also said it wouldn’t get that big…so don’t believe what you read.)
I bought a tiny pair of dwarf white pine when I moved here, Pinus strobus ‘Nana,’ and what sentinels they have become in the back garden, particularly beautiful when the amazing afternoon light in spring comes shining through.
The bark of the giant pussy willow is oddly enough is my favorite, then the rest are all tied for second. Looking forward to seeing your garden in person.
I too am a BIG fan of viburnums. If only I had a bigger yard.
I can’t wait to see “you and yours” on the 31st. What an incredible Spring display, and a particular delight for a City gardener who only has about 50 square feet in which to support Nature’s wonders.
In our “Times” correspondence you mentioned a nursery that would be worth a visit near Cupcake Falls. Details please? Though that presumes that I’ll be able to tear myself away from your garden.
Stunning! This slide show will help me choose shrubs to add to a perennial border in my back yard! (zone 4a)
Welcome, Jeanne Daley; you should plan to go to Loomis Creek, about 20 mins to my west and slightly north, near Hudson, NY (which is a fun town anyhow for a pitstop).
Welcome, Kit. Brrr….you are cold up there. But many goodies for even the coldest areas; check their zones carefully first of course. Nice to see you.
Cephalotaxus harringtonia ‘Prostrata’ is hardy here!?! YIPEE! I had significant zonal envy when I saw a spectacular photo in a book, whose title I can’t recall. Must/will try asap! Is this something you could find in a nursery, even with some effort? (Would be great to hear – from you or others – about other zone defying success stories.)
I really love doublefile viburnums. This fall I am planning on putting in a Maresii between my house and my neighbors. I’m hoping it’s pagoda-like branches will block out his ugly driveway and provide a nice place for birds to perch.
Gorgeous. Gorgeous. Gorgeous. You are the shrub queen! Don’t get me started on Lindera benzoin, perhaps THE most underrated native shrub in the Hudson Valley. I think Lindera is one of those Asian/American botanical parallels: some species in eastern U.S., some in Asia (I’ll have to consult Mr. Bean tonight). Can’t you just imagine it in place of all that horrid Forsythia everywhere in April? (No. I will not apologize for that bit of bombast. Forsythia is awful — so brash and loud at a time when everything else whispers. I consider it a blight on the land.)
I still want to propose a piece to you-know-who….Hello?
Welcome back, Dean, hope you are well. I call Forsythia vomit of spring, so I am with you. And yes, propose, propose. :) By the way, that is the even-more-naughty variegated ribbon grass or “gardener’s garters,” not blue Lyme grass; it’s Phalaris arundinacea ‘Picta.’ I love it. It wants to take over the world, but I have fought that urge for 15 or more years and we are happy together.
@Laura: Don’t know exactly where you are, but in the Berkshires, Windy Hill Nursery in Great Barrington sells it (and they are definitely Zone 5). The owner and I also both tried the upright forms but killed or maimed them all…but this one we can both grow. The first year it was a little freaked out, but quickly recovered and is a monster now. I have two more starting to take off in other spots…one is in too much shade, and I will move it.
@Bobster: Birds. The birds eat the viburnum fruit before it even ripens. Doublefile, sielbodii, etc…they will leave setigerum much longer, and the yellow-fruited forms like setigerum ‘Michael Dodge’ last longer, too.
Is that blue lyme grass in the main image? Edging the border beyond the lilac and the Cornus?
The doublefile is in it’s glory this week! It’s beautiful during the day, but it just seems to GLOW in the moonlight! By dumb-luck I placed it across the yard from the kitchen window and it really does just light up the yard. I smile now when I think how it fit on the passengers seat so snugly just a couple years ago. It’s a beast now…but one I absolutely love! I only wish the fruits would last a little longer into the season.
Where can I order plants for the purple agincounrt Beauty
Daphne’s flower purple
virburnum plcatum tomatosum? Thanks J Long
@Jackie: The doublefile viburnum should be in any garden center; defintely ask locally. Forestfarm usually carries the Daphne, but may be sold out by now. The lilac should be something your garden center can get you if they don’t stock it, or you can order a small one from Bluestone Perennials, among other places.
We’re worried in Vermont about the Viburnum leaf beetle, which none of you mention; no problems?
@Mary: Yes, we have it here now, too; I mention what to do (and how to find out what kinds are more affected) in this post from last year. I have at least two dozen viburnums here, and between October and April go and cut out overwintering egg cases to reduce the next year’s beetle population. Details and links in that post for more info.
I was first introduced to Plum Yew while in Virginia. It’s a great shrub for a low evergreen one. I don’t think it’s hardy further north though…too bad.
Welcome, Susan. I can grow the prostrate Cephalotaxus but not the other forms (which I like better). I am Zone 5Bish, and have had a big one many years. Nice to “meet” you.
Cornus mas is not natives, although it. Should be