Tag: Woodland Gardens

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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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Pieris – A Shrub for All Seasons

Pieris goes by many names including Andromeda, Japanese Pieris, and Lily-of-the-Valley bush. Whatever you prefer to call it, Pieris is a hardy shrub that’s worth getting to know better.

Pieris japonica is the perfect woodland shrub (photo courtesy thegardenlady.org)

One of the earliest blooming shrubs, well before the familiar yellow forsythia, Pieris blooms with white or pink flowers in late winter to early spring. In fact, it actually sets its flower buds in late summer for the following spring so that they remain on the bush through the fall and winter. Dark seed pods can also persist into the winter months creating an interesting look of old and new flowers hanging out together at the same time.

Pieris japonica showing berry-like seed pod clusters and new bronze growth (photo by Nancy Marie Allen)

Evergreen Pieris remains attractive all winter with its glossy dark green leaves, but it’s the fresh bronzey-red growth of spring combined with the delicate, lightly scented flower clusters that really make this shrub a standout. The large, white-flowered varieties look particularly lovely brightening areas at the edge of woodlands.

Pieris “Mountain Fire” (photo courtesy Planting Tree)

When we moved to our home 25 years ago, I discovered a long-neglected old shrub of Pieris japonica growing in the woods just beyond our lawn. By clearing out the area around it and letting in more light, the shrub was revitalized and came back to life. In a couple of years I was able to take a nearby young volunteer and move it to another area. Thus began my love affair with Pieris!

Pieris are well suited to woodland gardens (photo courtesy Oakland Nurseries)

Since that time I’ve discovered that small, volunteer Pieris are amazingly easy to transplant to other areas or share with friends. Large shrubs slowly spread and the “babies” are easily spaded up and relocated. This spring I moved three small shrubs next to a larger one to create a deer-resistant hedge of sorts and a backdrop behind an established shade garden. It will take several years for these new shrubs to fill out but the overall woodland garden effect is worth waiting for and is particularly suited to our woodsy, partially shaded landscape.

Pieris “Katsura” (photo courtesy McLarens Nurseries)

There are many new varieties now available such as “Mountain Fire” with vibrant red spring foliage and bright white blooms or “Katsura” with pink to red flowers. There are even those with stunning variegated foliage! Although the old-fashioned Pieris japonica in my yard grows to about 6 feet tall with an equal spread, there are modern dwarf varieties that will fit easily into smaller garden spaces.

Variegated Pieris “Ralto” (photo courtesy Ashwood Nurseries)

Pieris grow well in Hardiness Zones 5 to 8 and enjoy moist acidic soil enriched with leaf mold or compost. They can tolerate full sun but prefer some afternoon shade and a location that’s somewhat protected from the wind. Once established, these beautiful shrubs are relatively drought-tolerant and, best of all, very deer resistant!

This January photo shows Pieris with ivory flower clusters just waiting for spring (photo by Nancy Marie Allen)

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