Four-season shrubs add interest to gardens

By Bev Johnson | The Daily Journal

Published Saturday, January 19, 2008

Now that you know about the coffee tree, let's talk about shrubs.

Many viburnums are hardy in zones 2 and 3. They are truly a four-season shrub.

In the spring, they will bloom with clusters of frothy hydrangea-like blooms. The blossoms of the highbush cranberry look like a white pinwheel with a fuzzy middle. The flowers morph into red fruit and later red leaves.

Other indigenous viburnums are arrowood, wayfaring tree and nannyberry. Since they are natives, they can get wild and ugly if not kept pruned. Because they are so hardy, developers are working on more well-behaved varieties.

Bailey's in Minneapolis has bred Bailey's Compact, a hedge form of highbush cranberry. It has the trident leaf and the stunning fall color of its' wilder cousins.

A compact cultivar of the wayfaring tree is Mohican. This shrub has the red berries of the cranberry but the leaves are a deeper red-purple.

It also comes with a variegated leaf that does not change color in the fall. Arrowood has a bright blue berry in the fall.

All of these shrubs will feed overwintering birds and the ones that migrate through fall and spring. A slightly taller shrub or small tree; it gets 6- to 12-feet tall and 8-feet wide, is the Pagoda Dogwood. This is also a native, and likes the understory, or dappled shade of bigger trees. It does not like the hot afternoon sun. It also blooms with white flowers followed by blue berries.

The local birds strip those off as fast as they ripen. A new cultivar of this small tree is Golden Shadows. The leaves are green with an irregular yellow margin. When they first emerge in the spring, they have a tinge of pink to red in the leaves. It is very new so probably not readily available locally.

If you have planted seedling trees, like the ones available from our local Soil and Water District office, you know how small they are and how easy it is to mow them down when planted in grasses.

Here's a tip to help prevent murdering those tiny trees. Buy a bunch of Christmas tinsel. A few strings of that wrapped into the top of the small tree, catches your eye as you mow preventing mow overs. The only problem is that the birds like the stuff for nesting material, so you have to

re-tinsel them several times.

Don't prune your trees now even though the weather says, "get outside and do something.”

The interval before the tree starts to wake up is too long. The cut will get very dry and can lead to dead or dying branches, especially with apple trees. Shovel instead.

Bev Johnson is a master gardener for West Otter Tail County.