10 shrubs that shine in winter Cold weather APPEAL
By Pam Baytos
OSU Ext. master gardener volunteer
Imagine a fresh dusting of snow on a bright winter day. You look out on your garden and take in the beauty of winter in your landscape.
This view can be even more beautiful by adding any of these shrubs to your garden.
You’ll amp up your landscape’s winter interest with ease.
One of my favorites is the red twig dogwood (Cornus alba). This is a shrub dogwood that is grown for the bright red stems that provide winter interest. The stems are green all summer, turning red as winter approaches. This species can grow 5-10 feet tall. Its pruned branches work well in winter flower arrangements for inside and winter container designs for outside.
Chokeberry (Aronia) got its not so pretty name because the fruit is so bitter. Even after a winter, this shrub will still require much sweetening to make it palatable. Its bitterness has an aesthetic advantage; the birds avoid eating it, so the red or black fruit persists from mid-fall right through winter. It grows 3-6 feet tall with a 10-foot spread.
Harry Lauder Walking Stick (Corylus) This is perhaps the best known cultivar. It grows 8-10’ tall. The stems and branches are twisted and contorted and make it an interesting feature in winter when bare branches are most visible. This is yet another interesting addition to flower arrangements and winter containers.
Oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) grows 4-8 feet tall with equal spread. In addition to its year-round beauty, this shrub rounds out winter interest with its cinnamon brown exfoliating bark. These features give this plant a unique, artsy look during winter months.
Serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea) provides entertainment during fruiting time, with birds getting tipsy eating the partially fermented fruit and trying to navigate along its branches. This tall shrub has great winter interest. The grey bark with a reddish cast is quite unique. Using selective pruning to make fewer stems gives a better display of the structure and attractive bark of this native plant. Depending on species, it grows to 15-25m feet with equal spread.
Witchhazel (Hamamelis x intermedia) grows 10-20 feet with equal spread. Clusters of fragrant yellow, orange or red flowers appear in mid-to late winter on this shrub for one of the earliest signs that spring is just around the corner. The branches of spring blooming witch hazels can be cut in winter and forced to bloom indoors.
Winterberry holly (Ilex verticillata) grows 6-10 feet with equal spread. This shrub has an explosion of red fruit that persists into winter. It’s probably the best show for your money. A vase of cut winterberry branches is a perfect way to brighten a room during winter months.
Beauty bush (Kolkwitzia) grows 6-15 feet with equal spread. The long arching branches give this shrub its bold winter appeal, along with exfoliating bark.
Kerria (Kerria japonica) grows 3-6 feet tall with 3-8 feet spread. The bright green stems of the arching branches really stand out against the winter landscape. The double orange flowers are beautiful during the growing season.
Northern bayberry (Myrica pennsylvanica) grows 5-12 feet tall with equal spread. While a good bit of the waxy leaves will stay through most of our winters, the true winter interest is the small, waxy gray fruit on female plants. The waxy fruit is used to make bayberry-scented candles.
For some other ideas for winter interest in your landscape, go to: http://go.osu.edu/wintershine.