Great Grandmother’s Shrubs for Your Garden
|
Email Page
Print Page
|
|
|
Extras
|
Add Photo to Journal
|
|
| Photo Credit: Lane Greer |
| Who doesn’t like lilacs? Whether in your yard or in a vase, they’re hard to beat for beauty and fragrance. |
Shrubs, like clothing, go in and out of style. Today, some of the old-fashioned shrubs grown and loved by our grandmothers are now back in fashion – and for good reason: Most of these selections have few or no pests, grow fast and get quite large, filling up empty garden spaces quickly. Here’s a look at some of Grandma’s full-sun favorites.
Common lilacs (Syringa vulgaris) are easy to grow for gardeners in the Midwest and North. Their beautiful flower panicles are 6-12 inches long and highly fragrant. The flowers open in midspring, but if you’d prefer your blooms a little earlier, try a hybrid lilac such as S. × hyacinthiflora. Grow the old-fashioned kind for single lavender flowers, or be daring and grow a double-flowered pink or white type. Lilacs reach 8-10 feet tall and about 6 feet wide, and they can be grown in climates as diverse as Alaska and Arizona. The best soils to grow them in are neutral to alkaline (pH around 6.5 or higher). | Add Photo to Journal |  | | Photo Credit: Lane Greer | | Pearl bush is a standout in spring with its white buds and flowers, but it virtually disappears into the garden after blooming. |
Two spring bloomers that are much less well-known than lilacs but just as stunning are beautybush (Kolkwitzia amabilis) and pearl bush (Exochorda racemosa). Beautybush has small, pink flowers that cover the arching branches of the shrub in late spring. It can reach 8 or 10 feet tall and about as wide. It’s pretty care-free, although it benefits from pruning out old wood. Pearl bush gets its name from its pure-white buds. In early spring, plants are covered with the purest white buds you’ve ever seen! Pearl bush is hard to find unless it’s in bloom. Its bluish-green foliage blends in with many other plants, so put it at the back of the garden border. It’ll be easy to spot in bloom, since plants grow 10-15 feet tall and wide. Both shrubs like well-drained, acidic soil.
|
| Facts |
- Other old-fashioned favorites include forsythia, mockorange and fuzzy deutzia. Forsythia (Forsythia ×intermedia) produces what my uncle used to call “screamin’ yeller” flowers in early spring. Both mockorange (Philadelphus coronarius) and fuzzy deutzia (Deutzia scabra) bear white blooms in early summer.
- Lilacs are hardy in zones 3-7. Grow beautybush, pearl bush and mockorange in zones 4-8. Weigelas and forsythias are hardy in zones 5-8, and fuzzy deutzia is hardy in zones 5-7.
|
| Definitions |
- Panicles: Flowers that branch out. Panicles are larger than single flowers, so they create a better display.
|
|
|
Page 1 of 2
|
Next Steps
|
Articles
-
Shrub Selection and Planting
Knowing what you want – and need – from your shrub is an important step in plant selection. Here are a few questions to consider when picking a shrub, as well as some planting tips.
-
Maintaining Good Shrub Health
Keep your garden shrubs looking their healthy, colorful best with proper care techniques. Here are a few basic tips to help you get started.
-
Lilac Lovelies
The wonderful fragrance of lilacs makes this old-fashioned shrub a perennial favorite. They’re not just available in lavender shades either – think magenta, pink and white as well!
|
|
|
|