Category: Easy Care Shrubs

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Romantic Spring Shrubs for Woodland Gardens

The months of May and June are all about romance with these lovely woodland shrubs!

Spirea

Bridal Wreath Spirea

If ever there was a shrub that brings to mind white weddings, it’s the Bridal Wreath Spirea. It’s an absolute stunner when in full bloom with long, cascading branches that go all the way to the ground. Even the buds are romantic – they look just like clusters of tiny pearls! After blooming, this shrub turns a lovely shade of blue-green for the rest of the season.

Tall Azaleas

Tall Coral Azalea

Tall azaleas, many of them native, bring colorful blooms to eye level and upwards, some even growing to 20 feet! Their slender, graceful growth habit lends them well to tucking behind lower-growing shrubs or planting near the base of larger trees where they enhance the understory in a woodland setting

Rhondodendrons

Large pink Rhododendron

When a large shrub is needed for impact, but you lack full sun in your yard, consider rhododendrons. Some can grow into huge shrubs over time, so make sure that you have the space needed for these massive beauties. A mature shrub in full bloom will take your breath away!

Lilacs

Beauty of Moscow Lilac

Not only do lilacs provide us with big, flouncy blooms, they are also one of the most fragrant of all the spring shrubs. The Beauty of Moscow sports porcelain-pink buds that mature to a soft white after they open, and the heady scent of just a few cut flowers will fill your entire home!

Leucothoe

Girard’s Rainbow Leucothoe

Though not well known, the Rainbow Leucothoe is an invaluable four-season shrub for the woodland garden. Best appreciated up close, I find that photographs really don’t do it justice. Evergreen and ever lovely, Rainbow grows to about four feet high by five feet wide with long, cascading branches that flower at the tips in spring. But it’s the foliage that makes this shrub so special, for it changes over the seasons with highlights of red, pink, and cream, and these magical color shifts positively light up the dappled shade!

Mountain Laurel

Unknown variety of Mountain Laurel in bud

This old-fashioned Mountain Laurel is a mid-sized shrub that blooms beautifully alongside Azaleas and Rhododendrons. Deep green foliage makes a quiet statement in the garden most of the year, but there’s no missing this beauty once it starts to bloom in spring. To me, the new chartreuse leaf growth on these shrubs is just as pretty as the blooms!

All of these shrubs grow well in Northeastern Massachusetts, zone 6a

Photos by Nancy Marie Allen

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Forsythia – The Sunshine Shrub

Here in New England, Forsythia shrubs herald the arrival of spring like nothing else in the landscape and April is their time to shine.

Forsythia is not native to the United States but originated in Asia and started to appear in Europe around the mid-1800’s with American hybrids coming along around the time of World War I. Also known as ‘Golden Bells,’ Forsythia was named after the Scottish botanist, William Forsyth (1737-1804), a founding member of the Royal Horticultural Society. (from A Brief History of Forsythia by Mary Ellen Hammond, March 2017)

Although Forsythia have become commonplace, that doesn’t make them any less glorious! Even on the grayest days, they are beacons of light in the landscape. You’ll find many older shrubs growing along roadsides and creeping into shady woods where the blooms may be sparse but still a treat to our winter-weary eyes.

Forsythia are sun-lovers, so for the showiest blooms give these beauties at least six hours of sunlight daily. Other than that, these hardy shrubs will grow in just about any soil and even tolerate dry conditions once they’ve matured. In addition, they don’t seem to be bothered by pests or disease, and even the voracious whitetail deer leave them alone!

Another plus with Forsythia is the wide range of sizes and shapes now available to the American gardener. Tall, spreading and arching types can quickly fill out into impressive specimens, reaching 8 to 10 feet in height and width at maturity. Left to grow wild on their own, sprawling hedges can form over time, for when the long arching branches eventually touch the ground, they take root and make another shrub. But don’t let the vigorous nature of these larger shrubs scare you off, for there are many petite or dwarf varieties which are perfect for the average-sized home garden.

A Forsythia blooming alone is indeed a beautiful thing but when planted with flowering companions, the effect can be enchanting. How wonderful that Forsythia bloom at the same time as cheerful daffodils and other bulbs! You’ll find that even a small shrub makes a big statement when underplanted with complementary bulbs and early blooming perennials.

One thing to note is that the color of Forsythia blooms can be anything from a soft primrose yellow to deep gold, depending on the variety, so consider these cool or warm hues when choosing flowering companion plants.

It can be helpful when shopping at your local plant nursery to group some shrubs or plants together with your choice of Forsythia to get a better idea of how the colors will look combined in your garden. If you already have a Forsythia, clip a flowering sprig to take along with you. That said, winning color combinations can be created with Azaleas, Cherries, Quince, Pieris and more. One of my personal favorite vignettes is Forsythia underplanted with the sparkling periwinkle blue flowers of Vinca!

Easy-care Forsythia grows best in USA Hardiness Zones 5 – 8 and makes the perfect shrub for beginning gardeners!