The short , gray-haired days of wintertime in the north , partner off with nose candy , often make landscapes that resemble a black and lily-white photograph . Winter landscapes need not be drab and blue and can have color , by choosing works for interesting barque .
One of my favored shrub for its undimmed red stems is the Red - osier cornel ( genus Cornus sericea ) . For even better coloration than the species , look for the cultivar ( cultivated varieties ) ‘ redbird ’ . ‘ Arctic Fire ’ , and my favorite — Baton Rouge . ‘ Flaviramea ’ is a common yellow - stem cultivar of this mintage , but it is not as colored nor as tolerant to stanch canker as the Tatarian dogwood ‘ Bud ’s Yellow ’ ( Cornus alba ) . For a combination of colors , adjudicate the less usual Bloodtwig dogwood tree ( C. sanguinea ) ‘ Midwinter Fire ’ with its bright yellow - orange bow topped with loss .
Whatever the option you choose of the vivid - stem dogwoods , the coloring may be unripe in summer , turning burnished in winter , then back to more green next bounce . The colour is brightest on year - old stem , so the key to keeping secure colour is pruning back the oldest stems each leap so new unity will develop that growing season . Shrub dogwood are hardy , and quite vigorous given full sun ( but can abide some ghost ) , and can be pruned to within a few inches of the ground to renew overgrown bushes . They are adaptable to many soils , tolerate wet ones , and even drouth once established . I like to use their stems in vacation arrangement .
The coral barque willow cultivar ‘ Britzensis ’ ( Salix alba ) touch the shrub dogwoods for radical color , its year - quondam stems being red - orange tree in winter . It , too , is quite fearless and adaptable as are the bush dogwoods . Although it can grow into a large tree , abridge it back each give to keep into a scant mound .
For plants with the added benefit of summertime yield , some of the bramble have stems with color . In my garden , the arc silvery red stem of a ‘ Bristol ’ pitch-dark raspberry demarcation nicely with the dark red upright stems of a ‘ Darrow ’ blackberry bush . For a like stem effect to ‘ Bristol ’ , regard the Redleaf rose ( Rosa glauca ) with its waxy purple stems .
Green is a color that is miss in northern wintertime landscapes , except for evergreen plant , but for a deciduous shrub consider the Japanese kerria ( Kerria japonica ) . Hardy to USDA zone 5 ( -20 to -10 degrees F ) and perhaps a bit colder , this older - fashioned shrub has arching stems and a rounded manikin . It has bright yellow peak in spring , yellowish fall leaves , and bright green stems ( icteric with fleeceable stripe on the less vernacular cultivar ‘ Kin Kan ’ ) .
In addition to barque color , some woody plants have attractive desquamation ( “ exfoliating ” ) bark . Most familiar of such plants is the River birch ( Betula nigra ) with its topaz to rap peeling bark at a young age . The near choice and ordinarily found cultivar of River birch rod is ‘ inheritance ’ . The Himalayan ( B. utilis var . jacquemontii ) and blank birch rod ( B. papyrifera ) have whitened undress barque . A honest choice for the latter , resistant to the usual bronze birch rod borer , is Prairie Dream .
If you wish lilacs , consider the Peking lilac ( Syringa pekinensis ) and its cultivar ‘ China Snow ’ with glossy , coppery bark that peels in strip . Flowers are in mid - June , a creamy white more similar to the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree lilac than the vulgar lilac .
Slower growing than birch or the Peking lilac , and hardy to USDA zone 5 , is the Paperbark Maple ( Acer griseum ) . This choicelandscape plantmakes a small tree diagram , with cinnamon peeling papery barque in winter . As the peeling effect can vary with the plant life , choose ones at your local nursery with the best bark . Look for the cultivar Gingerbread whose leaves release shining red in crepuscule , and is quicker growing than the species .
Species of Stewartia with peeling bark that is mottle brown , gold and gray admit the Korean ( Stewartia korena ) and the Japanese ( S. pseudocamellia ) . As the name of the latter indicates , the white summertime flowers resemble camellias . Another incentive on these is the bolshy to orange fall leaf colour . If you live in USDA zone 5 or warmer , consider these .
For a more strange large bush or small tree , look for the Seven Sons flush ( Heptacodium miconioides ) . A relatively recent intromission from China , this choice plant life can be see in mass at the Taiwanese garden at the Montreal Botanical Gardens . The little , fragrant blank flush bloom in September . The bark pare in long , upright strips to create a tan and brown gist . Seven Sons are brave into USDA geographical zone 4b ( -20 to -25 degree F ) .
skin on some diminished trees may not peel but is still quite attractive . A couple of my favorites are cherries – the paperbark ( Prunus serrula ) and the Amur chokecherry ( P. maackii ) . They are relatively tight maturation , with glossy cinnamon bark . The latter is often short - know due to weak branch complex body part or girdle roots , but one I had lasted over 20 years . I had it ( and now its switch of the same ) planted in our front yard where we can see its beautiful bark , and where the bird can shore on their way to our feeders . It has astound me how many hole in the barque it can defy due to pecker and sapsuckers !
The European hornbeam ( Carpinus betulus ) has greyish , muscle - like barque and is hardy to zone 4 . Related to the bright - halt cornel , but less stalwart ( geographical zone 5 ) is the kousa cornel ( Cornus kousa ) . Its bark is a patchwork of grey , tan , brown , and orangish .
Look for these and other shrubs and trees with an attractive barque when adding plants to your landscape . They ’ll provide interest long after flowers and farewell are done with their show .
Dr. Leonard Perry , Horticulture Professor EmeritusUniversity of Vermont
