Shrubs Provide Winter Color

Simply Trees — December 2013

For many gardeners the winter months are a time to recover from the busy growing season, and also a time to reflect on the year's successes and failures. Which plants were stars and which ones fizzled in the summer heat?

It's easiest to think about plants for a particular season when you're in the middle of that season, so if you've started making your list (not the "naughty or nice" list but the "gotta get" list), consider adding some plants you might overlook next spring when early-blooming plants take center stage.

For the most part, the garden is dormant now, safe under the blanket of winter snow and cold. But for some particular shrubs, now is the time to shine. The shrubs below can brighten the dull winter landscape with abundant berries, and they are particularly beautiful against a backdrop of soft, white snow:

Aronia or black chokeberry is an easy-to-grow shrub with white flowers in spring, glossy green leaves in summer and clusters of black berries that last all winter – if songbirds don't find them first.

Winterberry holly foliage drops in fall to reveal bright red berries that last all winter. It requires male and female plants for fruit set and performs best with consistently moist soils.

Meserve hybrid holly is a handsome shrub with lustrous dark green leaves that persist through winter. It performs best in rich, organic soil with consistent moisture and should not be planted in sites exposed to harsh winter winds and bright winter sun.

American cranberrybush viburnum is an excellent large shrub with lustrous, maple-like leaves that turn yellow-red in fall and has loose clusters of bright red berries that last all winter. Plant it in a rich, organic soil and keep it consistently moist for best growth. It makes a good screen or informal hedge.

Linden viburnum has flat-topped white flowers in spring that cover the plant in a veil of white. After the handsome foliage drops in fall, bright cherry red clusters of oval berries are revealed. In winter, the fruits look like withered red raisins. It prefers rich, organic soil and grows 8-10 feet high.

Coralberry is a dense, low-growing shrub with long cascading branches. It produces brightly colored clusters of pink to red berries in fall that persist all winter. Lined along the thin arching branches, the berries are beautiful against a backdrop of snow. It's a tough groundcover for full sun to part shade and well-adapted to a variety of soils. It grows to 3 feet high and 8 feet wide.

Snowberry is a native shrub with snowy white fruit clusters from October into early winter. It has a rounded habit, with fine, twiggy shoots and blue-green leaves that remain on the plant well into fall. This very adaptable plant prospers in heavy clay soil and will grow best in part shade. It works well as a filler or in mass plantings and should be pruned in late winter to bring it back to its summer shape. It grows 3 to 6 feet high and wide.

Rugosa rose is a hardy, durable shrub rose with glossy leaves and abundant rose-to-white flowers late spring through summer. Large orange to red rose hips are beautiful in winter on this 3 to 4 foot shrub. A great drought-tolerant choice for hot, windy sites in full sun.

Sumac. Both the native staghorn and smooth sumac tend to form wide-spreading colonies, but they can be kept in check with a mowed boundary. Crimson red berries in pyramidal clusters top the stems in fall and persist through winter, offering a late winter food source for birds after the berries have gone through several freeze-thaw cycles to make them palatable. Sumacs are very hardy and can tolerate dry, sterile soils.

See these shrubs at www.pinterest.com/nearboretum/shrubs-with-winter-fruits/.