Winter Woody Ornamentals

I'm not talking about Christmas trees or Yule logs either!This one's about shrubs.

I am a big fan of flowers…bright disks and rays and beards and panicles in spring and summer show. I can’t get much more excited than when my first Echinacea blooms or the Ironweed emerges in purple drifts. And a big show-off Bearded Iris can’t be ignored. But fall is when I really notice shrubs. I’m not talking about evergreens right now; hollies, boxwoods, yews and laurels  are great helpers in the yard and garden. They give us year round color, and stability in the visual scheme. But right now is when I notice the subtle textures, colors and promises of deciduous shrubs.

A Calycanthus (Carolina Sweetshrub) at a Nashville garden is a bare twiggy thing right now (late November) but has crunchy pods of seeds at its tips. The seed just reminds me of next year’s delicate magenta flower.  If you prune a little right now, you’ll get the sweet tangy aroma from the cuts in their wood.

The Witch hazel leaves are yellowing, but I know their flowers are imminent. This is part of the fun of a garden in winter; like Helleborus, Witch Hazels flower in December and January. Their cousin, Fothergilla major, saves its blooms for spring, but is turning a gorgeous yellow and orange on its last leafy legs. I like the shape of this shrub too: a smallish upright branching plant, which like the Calycanthus has a lovely spring flower. It’s a 3 season plant.

Cotoneaster is bronzy colored and full of berries, Rhododendrons are glossy and green with next year’s buds curled up tight.

This Viburnum snowball bush is getting ready for winter now.  Sure, it will be a show off in April with its huge round hydrangea-like ball of flowers. But look at this color right now:  rich  brick red and yellow.

Oak Leaf Hydrangeas (Hydrangea quercifolia) situated in sun are a deep purple red.

And of course there are Crape Myrtles (Ligustrum) which really are more tree-like, but I have a few that I keep pruned smaller for my convenience. The leaves are gone, but the smooth sand-colored trunks catch and reflect the winter sun and give a sculptural effect.

The appeal of shrubs in fall is more are more subtle than the maples, poplars, and oaks showering leaves down on our yards now but I like their gentle bits of color and shape. I appreciate the details that we overlook at other louder times of the garden year.

(See the easiest to understand description of why leaves change color, here:   http://biologicalthinking.blogspot.com/2012/11/natures-crayons.html#links)
 

(Pictured, in order: Fothergilla major 'Mt Airy', Snowball Viburnum, Hydrangea quericifolia 'Pee Gee')

There are Flowers in Your Future

This is it! The perfect time for planting, when the sun is shining, the air is cool, the ground is still workable, and winter rains are on their way. Winter is when most deciduous shrubs and flowering perennials go dormant. That is, the plants are not creating new stem and leaf growth, they are at rest, most of their activity is in their root systems. A perfect time to put a new shrub or herbaceous perennial in the ground. Transplant shock is milder when the plant is ‘sleeping’. The owner   -that’s you-   doesn’t have to water as vigorously or worry about the brutal heat of summer.

Yes, you should water as soon as you plant, and water your plant several times in the first two weeks. Right now, November 2 in Nashville it’s very dry and no forecast for rain, so water for the next couple of weeks.

What about the cold you say? “It’s too cold for that sweet little tree.” Nope, the ground is an insulating ‘blanket’ for all the plants. Just keep it watered if we have dry weeks.  Now, your plants in pots…different story…you should bring them into the house or garage, especially if they are tropicals (e.g., ‘houseplants).

After you’ve planted your tree/shrub/flower…a little mulch won’t hurt, but a little goes a long way. Use no more than 3 inches of mulch on your flower beds and around trees. Repeat after me:  “Mulch Volcanoes Kill”  - see this link, sweet and simple:

http://www.maine.gov/agriculture/pesticides/library/ppt/Master_Gardener/mulch_volcano.pdf

A LOT of mulch is not a good thing. It’s bad. Don’t do it. Just because ‘they’ do it…doesn’t mean it’s good horticultural practice.

Back to planting:

Plant your spring-blooming bulbs now and into December: crocus, hyacinth, daffodils, tulips, frittallaria. Yes, the ones at the Homeowners Depot are just fine, and affordable. Follow the depth planting instructions. For most bulbs, dig a hole this deep: the diameter of the bulb times 3. Example: the crocus bulbs are about  ½ to 1 inch wide, plant them 2-3 inches below the surface. You don’t need to water these, they will be fine on their own.

You can still plant pansies, too, and ornamental cabbages if that’s your thing. Put on a light sweater and enjoy some of Tennessee’ best weather ever out in your own God’s Little Acre.