New is not always better. But in a shrub-deprived region such as ours, having more choices has to be a good thing.
In a small garden every plant must be a team player, willing to provide double-, triple- or quadruple-duty. I want pretty flowers, of course, but also insist on handsome foliage, showy seedheads or fruits and an attractive framework. This is especially true for shrubs because they are the gardener’s “furniture”; flowers are the “accessories.”
Forsythia has a spectacular floral display in early spring, a time when gardeners are so color-starved they’re tempted to run out and bag one for their garden. But shrubs like forsythia are best left to the large garden or landscape where, when they aren’t in bloom, its fair to middling foliage and form can fade away into the background unnoticed.
The trend of introducing unusual forms of familiar shrubs is making life easier for those with small gardens. This spring I came across a variegated forsythia, and I probably would have given into the temptation, if only this nursery specimen had exhibited the slightest bit of variegation. The leaves looked ordinary green to me.
Probably the best example of expanded foliage options is the elderberry. This shrub provides white flowers in summer, followed by clusters of black berries and chartreuse fall color. Cutleaf and various leaf color alternatives have been around for a long time, and some of these are quite spectacular. Golden-yellow variegated Sambucus nigra Variegata illuminates a shady border on the west side of my house and never fails to elicit comments from visitors. Another form, S. n. Laciniata, has finely cut foliage, but newer Linearis adds another dimension – leaves that are filigreed and twisted.
The sambucus that stopped me in my tracks when I first saw it, though, was “Black Lace.” Its foliage is dusky-burgundy, nearly black as its name suggests. The picture on the tag shows pink flowers. Black fruit likely won’t show up against such dark leaves, but the robins will get them anyway. I’m especially excited about this shrub because of its resemblance to the perennial Cimicifuga Brunette, a gorgeous plant that needs more water than I can provide. All of the elderberries can be treated as cut-back shrubs, their stems pruned close to the ground in spring, to limit their ultimate size.
Redtwig dogwoods also have been going through some changes. Variegated cultivars that have been around for a while are beautiful, but it was a chartreuse Cornus alba Aurea that caught my attention when I visited the O’Byrne garden in Eugene, Ore., some years back. Now you can find all manner of redtwig dogwoods. Want white-edged leaves? There’s C. a. Argenteomarginata. Do you prefer gold variegation? Then you’ll want C. a. Spaethii. If you can’t make up your mind, choose, C. a. Cream Cracker, which has white and gold variegation.
Plant designers have been similarly busy with ninebarks. There are purple-leafed Physocarpus opulifolius, coppery P. o. Coppertina, and yellow P. o. Nugget, which was introduced by South Dakota State University, so you know this one is cold-hardy. Barberries also have gotten into the act, as have weigela, daphne, smokebush, blue mist spirea and butterfly bush.
Marcia Tatroe is a garden writer and lecturer. E-mail her at rltaurora@aol.com.
