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I am trying to add more winter interest to banish the blues here in zone 7. So far, I have a list of plants I'd like to add (or add more of) to my garden:
1. Hamamelis Vernalis - a purple cultivar. Flowers in winter. Native.
2. Hamamelis intermedia - "pallida" seems nice. Flowers in winter.
3. Ilex decidua - "possumhaw" likes alkaline soil. Berries in winter. Native.
4. Ilex verticillata - winterberry holly likes acid soil. Berries in winter. Native.
5. Burford holly - Ok with alkaline soil. Doesn't need a partner to make berries.
6. Stewartia - pretty bark and overall plant shape.
7. Dixie wood fern - evergreen for me. Native.
8. Autumn fern - evergreen for me.
9. Christmas fern - Native.
10. Paperbush - Edgworthia crysantha (sp?) Fragrant flowers in winter.
11. Crocus - Appear in late winter...and I need more of them.
We have a contorted filbert, 'Harry Lauder's Walking Stick' out front. We got the purple foliage cultivar -- which of course, turns green in 90+ temperatures. It looks better in winter than it does in summer! It's an excellent speciment plant.
We have a contorted filbert, 'Harry Lauder's Walking Stick' out front. We got the purple foliage cultivar -- which of course, turns green in 90+ temperatures. It looks better in winter than it does in summer! It's an excellent speciment plant.
You know I dug up and moved hundreds of bulbs and perennials and irises from my Atlanta garden to bring to my new N.C. I also had a 20 year old harry Lauder. I loved my Harry but knew I could not dig him up so I cut as many branches off as i could. I got an extra moving wardrobe box and crammed it plum full of harry sticks. I have an antique red rider wagon on my porch and all my harry sticks are in it. I also use them as supports in my garden. I know I didn't do any harm to the plant but I surely would love to see how it has filled out since my extreme pruning. Maybe this fall I'll try to find a new one for this garden. Thanks for reminding me about my beautiful left-behind friend, Harry Lauder.
if it's an informal area, and you have the space, this is interesting in the winter too American Bittersweet
We had several Arctic Fire redosier dogwoods planted this spring. They're lovely in winter as long as you keep them pruned every few years. The stems become thick and woody brown and must be removed to promote new red stems. They're also very "non" the rest of the year and get a fair amount of leaf spot. I kind of wish we had chosen something else.
Red chokeberry is a wonderful shrub for winter interest. Gorgeous flowers in spring, beautiful fall color, and red berries all winter. We actually put in the dogwoods to replace five chokeberrys that were dead from last year's drought. We didn't bother digging them ou, and wouldn't you know, they resurrected themselves after the dogwoods went in. So now we have a quandary to deal with next spring -- what to move.
You know I dug up and moved hundreds of bulbs and perennials and irises from my Atlanta garden to bring to my new N.C. I also had a 20 year old harry Lauder. I loved my Harry but knew I could not dig him up so I cut as many branches off as i could. I got an extra moving wardrobe box and crammed it plum full of harry sticks. I have an antique red rider wagon on my porch and all my harry sticks are in it. I also use them as supports in my garden. I know I didn't do any harm to the plant but I surely would love to see how it has filled out since my extreme pruning. Maybe this fall I'll try to find a new one for this garden. Thanks for reminding me about my beautiful left-behind friend, Harry Lauder.
My husband loves Harry! He really wanted one because he fondly remembers the Scottish comedian, Harry Lauder, from his childhood. Harry always carried a crooked walking stick, hence the name of the filbert. I also use sticks that have broken off, mostly as supports or added interest in containers.
NK, see if you can find the purple one. It's magnificent. Lots of green sprouts from the graft union, though, and like most purple-leafed shrubs, it reverts to dark green in intense summer heart. The cultivar is called 'Red Majestic'.
We had several Arctic Fire redosier dogwoods planted this spring. They're lovely in winter as long as you keep them pruned every few years. The stems become thick and woody brown and must be removed to promote new red stems. They're also very "non" the rest of the year and get a fair amount of leaf spot. I kind of wish we had chosen something else.
I've seen the dogwood used in a lot of commercial plantings and yeah, lots of pruning needed. They do sort of fade into the background in the summer, I often see them planted with chartreuse colored plants, which offsets that a little bit.
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