The short , grey years of wintertime in the Union , pair with C. P. Snow , often make landscapes that resemble a dark and white photo . Winter landscapes need not be drab and dreary and can have color , by choosing plants for interesting bark .
Dogwoods are a great choice
One of my pet shrubs for its bright red stems is the Red - osier dogwood ( Cornus sericea ) . For even better color than the coinage , expect for the cultivars ( cultivate varieties ) ‘ Cardinal ’ and ‘ Arctic Fire ’ . ‘ Flaviramea ’ is a common jaundiced - stanch cultivar of this species , but it is not as colorful nor as repellent to staunch cankers as the Tatarian cornel ‘ Bud ’s Yellow ’ ( Cornus alba ) . For a compounding of color , try the less common Bloodtwig dogwood ( C. sanguinea ) ‘ Midwinter Fire ’ with its bright yellow - orange stems topped with red .
Whatever the extract you take of the bright - stemmed dogwood tree , the color may be more green in summer , sour bright in wintertime , then back to more light-green next spring . Color is brightest on year - previous stems , so the paint to keeping good color is dress back the oldest stems each springiness so new one will develop that grow time of year . Shrub dogwoods are intrepid , and quite vigorous given full sun ( but can tolerate some shadowiness ) , and can be pruned to within a few inch of the terra firma to renew overgrown bushes . They are adaptable to many soils , suffer stiff I and even drouth once established . I like to use their stems in holiday placement .
The coral barque willow cultivar ‘ Britzensis ’ ( Salix alba ) rival the bush dogwood for root word colour , its year - old stem being scarlet - orange in winter . It too is quite fearless and adaptable as are the bush dogwoods . Although it can turn into a large tree , cut it back each outpouring to keep into a shorter knoll .
Blackberries, raspberries, and lilacs
For plants with the added benefit of summer fruit , some of the bramble have stems with colour . In my garden , the arching silvery carmine stem of a ‘ Bristol ’ black raspberry contrast nicely with the dark red vertical staunch of a ‘ Darrow ’ blackberry . For a similar base essence to ‘ Bristol ’ , view the Redleaf rear ( Rosa glauca ) with its waxy majestic stems .
Green is a color that is lack in northern winter landscapes , except for evergreen plants , but for a deciduous bush think the Nipponese kerria ( Kerria japonica ) . Hardy to USDA zone 5 ( -20 to -10 degree F ) and perhaps a chip dusty , this old - fashioned bush has arching stem and a rounded form . It has bright yellow flower in spring , yellow-bellied fall leaves , and bright green prow ( yellow with dark-green stripes on the less common cultivar ‘ Kin Kan ’ ) .
If you likelilacs , consider the Peking lilac ( Syringa pekinensis ) and its cultivar ‘ China Snow ’ with shining , coppery bark that undress in strips . Flowers are in mid - June , a creamy white more similar to the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree lilac than the coarse lilac .
Birch trees, Maples, and Stewartia
In plus to bark people of colour , some woody plants have attractive peeling ( “ exfoliate ” ) barque . Most conversant of such plants is theRiver birch(Betula nigra ) with its tan to pink peeling bark at a new age . The best choice and ordinarily incur cultivar of River birch tree is ‘ Heritage ’ . The Himalayian ( B. utilisvar.jacquemontii ) and ashen birch ( B. papyrifera ) have bloodless peel bark . A good choice for the latter , resistive to the common bronze birch borer , is Prairie Dream .
Slower growing than birch or the Peking lilac , and hardy to USDA zone 5 is thePaperbark Maple(Acer griseum ) This choice landscape painting plant makes a lowly Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , with cinnamon peeling papery barque in wintertime . As the flake off burden can change with plant , pick out ones at your local greenhouse with the best barque . Look for the cultivar Gingerbread whose foliage turn bright red in declension , and is faster growing than the coinage .
Species of Stewartia with peeling bark that is streak brown , gold and grey let in the Korean ( Stewartia korena ) and the Japanese ( S. pseudocamellia ) . As the name of the latter indicate , the white summer bloom resemble camellia . Another bonus on these is the Marxist to orange fall foliage color . If you live in USDA geographical zone 5 or warmer , consider these .
For a more unusual large bush or lowly tree , look for the Seven Sons flower ( Heptacodium miconioides ) . A relatively recent institution from China , this choice plant can be see in slew at the Taiwanese garden at the Montreal Botanical Gardens . The small , fragrant ashen flowers efflorescence in September . The barque peels in foresighted , vertical strip to create a tan and chocolate-brown effect . Seven Sons is stout into USDA zona 4b ( -20 to -25 degrees F ) .
skin on some little trees may not skin but is still quite attractive . A duet of my favourite are cherries – the paperbark ( Prunus serrula ) and the Amur chokecherry ( P. maackii ) . They are relatively tight maturation , with calendered cinnamon bark . The latter is often short - know due to weak arm social system or girdling roots , but one I had lasted over 20 years . I had it ( and now its replacement 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 bewilder me how many golf hole in the bark it can resist due to woodpeckers and sapsuckers !
Look for these and other bush and trees with attractive bark when adding plant to your winter landscape . They ’ll ply interest long after flowers and leaves are done with their show .
A reading of this clause in the beginning appeared on The Green Mountain Gardener , University of Vermont Department of Plant and Soil Science .
