PLANS FOR NEXT YEAR: A SHRUB BORDER

I tend to go on a bit here about taking stock of your garden so you can make changes next year, but that's because I still think it's one of the single best things you can do. Plus, I find it to be a very optimistic activity. In the middle of a season of decomposition, I find it quite enjoyable to think about what comes next.

This is the fall view of the wooded area. The ferns have all died back, and the Viburnum 'Mariesii' is starting to change color on the left. I'd like to make the entire edge where the woods meets the grass an informal shrub border.

Many garden designers advise that you should start your design process inside, and I agree. Make what you see when you are in your house looking out the best it can be from that view. Beyond our kitchen, the next place I spend the most time looking out the window is, believe it or not, our upstairs bathroom. Because we live in a fairly secluded area with neighbors that aren't too close (and have lost any cares we might have about it anyway) we enjoy the view out the bathroom window from the glass shower as well as when I'm standing there drying my hair and getting ready in the morning. So it's an important view, even if it's probably the last place you get to if you are strolling through the yard.

Big strides have been made in this area over the years, but it's a slow process. The area that abuts the wooded area is most in need. We love the woods and the ostrich ferns that take over, but the edges of this area get taken over by jewelweed, which is not a plant I care for.

Viburnum plicatum 'Mariesii' has been allowed to grow into a large, free-ranging shrub. It's putting on nice fall color now.

A few years ago (maybe four), I planted Viburnum plicatum 'Mariesii' on the edge of this area. It's a lovely shrub that can get quite large—10x10 or so—and I wanted to make sure it had all the room it would need or want. I recall thinking at the time I planted it that I could also add other shrubs in the area. For some reason I never acted on that idea.

After a lot of studying of that area (like, every morning), I've doubled down on that plan. There are a lot of fabulous older shrubs that I don't have the space to grow elsewhere, but a shrub border along the woods would be the perfect location for these. Don't get me wrong, I love so many of the new cultivars available now, many of which are more compact than the species and they fit in well in much of my garden, but there is a certain statement that can be made by a large specimen.

At the far end of the wood's edge we planted a  Cercis canadensis (Redbud) 'Forest Pansy' last year. It struggled a little this summer, but its leaves are so beautiful.

I don't have any shrubs in particular in mind and that is exciting to me. I can't wait to get stuck in researching shrubs in winter to design this area. Shrubs are not inexpensive, so it's probably something I'll install over the course of several year, and pick up things as I find them, or even better, as I find them on sale. And I hope to be able to incorporate a few somewhat unusual shrubs to keep it interesting and to satisfy the needs of my suppressed plant collector.

THE WORST-CASE SCENARIO GUIDE TO PRUNING

To my knowledge there is no garden task that strikes fear into the heart of gardeners so much as pruning. By my estimation, the two most likely explanations for this are:

1. We've all been scolded and made to feel bad/silly/stupid for pruning incorrectly.
2. We live in perpetual fear of killing plants by pruning incorrectly.

There are rules for pruning. Oh boy are there rules. Start with the hardest: When to prune? There's no doubt that there is a better time to prune to maximize future flowering and keep the shrub or plant looking its best. But how is a gardener supposed to keep track of what to prune when, when everything seems to have its own very specific set of rules?

This is a newer cultivar of Spirea that only gets lightly shaped after blooming, but older varieties can turn into woody, ugly behemoths if not pruned at all. 

Then there is the question of how much we're supposed to be pruning, and how should we physically prune?

Most of the answers aren't that hard to remember:

WHEN: Spring-blooming shrubs generally set their flowers on "old wood," aka the previous year's growth, so if you prune anytime between late summer and early the following spring, you'll be cutting of the flower buds. Summer- and fall-blooming shrubs can be cut back in very late winter or very early spring (in my zone 5 garden this typically involves walking through a bit of snow). It's generally safe to prune right after flowering, but on something like Virburnums, you would be cutting off the branches where beautiful berries will form.

HOW MUCH: The general rule of thumb is to not prune more than 25 percent of a shrub or tree's growth in a year. Some push that to 33 percent, but I err on the side of a quarter.

HOW: To keep it simple, you at least want to prune back to something, usually a branch but maybe a leaf node at least. Often you may want to consider something called rejuvenation pruning, where you remove some of the oldest branches/stems all the way to the ground.

Of course there are finer points that go well beyond these. As gardeners get more into gardening, as is usually the case, these details become second nature. But in the meantime I feel like the gardeners who know those details are doing a good job of scaring the pants off new gardeners who may quickly decide that gardening is too complicated and they don't have time or space in their brain for such details. And that's sad, because while it is certainly better to have intimate knowledge of how and when to prune every plant we grow, the world will not end if you don't.

In other words, let's stop spreading the fear of pruning.

In fact, while some people may tell you that you MUST prune at a certain time, I'd like to challenge that idea. And by the way, I'm not alone. Christopher Lloyd, the late, great British gardener who did much to influence how we think of gardens today at his Great Dixter, has said that the best time to prune is when you have the tools in your hand and you think of it.

"The wrong time may be the only opportunity and a preferable alternative to not doing something at all," he wrote in The Adventurous Gardener. "Or it may not be the wrong time, contrary to accepted practice as quoted in gardening literature, if you act cannily. It's all very well to accept received advice and opinions gratefully and at face value when you're starting, but we graduate. You'll make mistakes but you'll perhaps learn not to mind making them. That's a great release from all sorts of inhibitions."

In other words, it's far better to prune at the wrong time than it is to not prune at all, which is a far more common and possibly egregious crime against horticulture. (Exception: There are many shrubs, that, when planted in an appropriate location can and should be allowed to live their lives with little to no pruning, short of removing dead wood.)

I planted this Viburnum plicatum 'Mariesii' in an area where it will be allowed to grow to its full size, maybe 10 feet tall and wide or more, so I will never need to prune it for size. 

Sometimes, when considering doing something in life that I'm not entirely comfortable with, I think, "What's the worst that could happen?"

And I believe that might be a good approach to pruning as well. If you have the time and the tools handy, what's the worst that could happen if you prune a shrub at a less than optimal time? And in most cases the answer is that you'd negatively affect its next flowering period. So is that so terrible? Well, it probably is if it's the shrub around which you planned your entire garden, or if you have a garden wedding planned specifically for when a particular shrub blooms.

Hydrangeas, perhaps more than any other shrub, strike fear into the hearts of gardeners when it comes time for pruning. This is Hydrangea panniculata Limelight, which blooms on new wood at the ends of branches. I cut it back somewhat hard (some years more than others) in late winter, and in recent years have taken out the oldest stem all the way to the base to encourage new growth. What's the worst that would happen if I didn't prune it that way? If I failed to prune it all it would still flower, but it would get to its full size, 8 or more feet tall and eventually dead wood, if not removed, would sully its appearance. If I pruned at the wrong time, I would probably get later, fewer and smaller flowers (if pruned well into spring) or maybe nothing different would happen if I pruned in fall instead of winter.

To me, the worst-case scenario of something that could happen to a shrub is that you'd kill it, and providing that you follow the other two rules (particularly the one about how much to prune), it's unlikely you'll do that.

Now think about the worst-case scenario if, year after year, you forget to prune a shrub when you are supposed to and never touch it because you don't want to prune at the wrong time. You may end up with an overgrown shrub that outgrows its location and is so badly shaped that it can't be salvaged. And then you end up taking it out, probably after several years of looking at a pretty ugly shrub. In effect, you make the decision to end it's life.

The point is this: No one wants to reduce flowering accidentally, but I think it's time we stop acting like pruning at the wrong time is one of the seven deadly sins. Not to mention, Lloyd's point about making mistakes is a good one: Sometimes it's the best way to learn in the garden.

Rather, I'd counsel gardeners to check a good gardening reference book or even Google (add .edu to the end of your search and you're more likely to quickly get to more reliable information) for pruning information for their specific plant if they know what it is. But if you don't and you have the tools in your hand and you know it's likely the only time you'll have for the job, go for it.

What's the worst that can happen?

THE SHRUB QUEEN

Stacey Hirvela didn't get into gardening the way many people do; it wasn't something she was surrounded by. But her grandmother grew lily of the valley by the garage, and young Stacey was allowed to pick as many of the flowers as she wanted. It wasn't until she was older that she discovered gardening for herself and realized how head over heels in love with it she was.

She was a senior linguistics major at the University of Michigan when she realized that the idea of gardening for living was more attractive than what she'd been studying, she said. The next stop was the New York Botanical Garden's school of professional horticulture, an eduction she credits with giving her a well-rounded horticulture education, rather than a more narrowly focused one that she may have gotten at a university graduate program.

Stacey Hirvela

"I got a plant-focused education that has done a lot of good for me," Stacey said. "I have to say, it's pretty hard to stump me on a plant ID."

That education led to jobs many gardening fanatics would classify as dream jobs. Stacey was the head horticulturist at Tavern on the Green in Manhattan, senior assistant garden editor at Martha Stewart Living magazine and now she's the horticulture marketing specialist for Spring Meadow Nursery (the folks behind Proven Winners Colorchoice Shrubs).

I first ran into Stacey when she was with Martha Stewart Living magazine, when she was a speaking at one of the first Proven Winners Outdoor Living Extravaganzas. I remember being completely entertained by this woman who was easy going, fun, maybe a little rebellious and not at all the straight-laced mini Martha I had been expecting. Our paths have crossed here and there over the years and I thought she'd be an interesting person to feature here.

Spring Meadow Nursery is located on the other side of Lake Michigan from me so I have a bit of an idea what kind of conditions they grow in there. Stacey, who has worked there for almost six years, said working inside the plant industry is treating her well. If you reach out on social media to Proven Winners Colorchoice Shrubs with a plant question, most of the time you'll be talking to Stacey.

Stacey's home garden has gradually developed to be particularly nature friendly but a true design is in the works after she and her husband finish an exterior renovation of their home. Stacey Hirvela photo

"This industry is so full of great people and I love my job because I get to work with home gardeners every day and help them one on one," she said. "And I get to see plants go from the trial gardens to the naming process to becoming a huge hit."

Working and living in Michigan has also offered Stacey the opportunity to have her own yard to garden in. Stacey and her husband are renovating their house and have been waiting until after they finish the exterior to really dig into a true garden design, but that doesn't mean there's no gardening happening in their yard.

Bugs are good. Stacey Hirvela photo

"I'm an equal opportunity plant geek, but the more that I work in my yard and select plant, the more I just fall completely in love with native plants," she said. "I've come to see my garden as more of a stage for nature. I sort of like to create a setting where nature and birds are the performers."

Michigan's lakeshore communities are typically full of sandy soil and Stacey said her yard is very sunny, so plants have to withstand an extreme environment to survive there (although the excellent drainage and insulation from the lake allows plants that may push the 6a zone to survive when they might not otherwise, she said).

Despite holding off on a "design" for the garden, one has formed nonetheless, she said.

"There was a big old veggie patch in the back that was all weedy and neglected and when we moved we basically just dug everything into that bed as a holding area," Stacey said. "Now that's basically a border. It's kind of hilarious because it's fairly haphazard, but it works."

See Stacey's list of her personal must-have plants at the bottom

Stacey Hirvela photo

Stacey and I share a certain garden-related pet peeve as well: Garden myths, particularly those perpetuated by Pinterest (I actually have a Pinterest board dedicated to gardening tips you shouldn't follow.)

"For me it stems from the fact that I cannot stand to see things that set people up for failure in the garden," she said. "People already have so much fear about being in the garden and when it doesn't work they blame themselves. There is this weird thing in gardening where if people fail once they take it so personally as if at the end of their life there is going to be a personal recounting of every plant they've killed. There's no such thing as a black thumb, just people who don't know how to garden yet."

Take one of the most popular garden myths, for example. Epsom salts are supposed to do everything from make plants grow perfectly to kill weeds (I still struggle with how both of those can be true) to magically making tree stumps disappear.

"First of all, it's salt, so people should know that salt and soil are not good friends," Stacey said. "But people love this idea that there's this thing sitting on their shelf that's going to provide horticultural miracles. And the recommendations for Epsom salts are ridiculous when you look at what it contains. Magnesium and sulphur are essential nutrients but they are rarely lacking in soil, so when you use it you're just polluting and using an unnecessary chemical. I just dislike that it pulls people farther from understanding plants."

Other common myths that draw Stacey's ire are putting a whole egg in the bottom of a pot before planting ("It's just going to rot and you might be in for a really nasty surprise when you empty your pot in fall") and putting a diaper in the bottom of a hanging basket ("It holds water, it doesn't give back water. It just serves as a water reservoir that is going to cause a disposal issue. It's unnecessary and takes up room in the container so it's really just making way more work for zero benefit.")

Even though there being no scientific reason for some of these myths to work, why do people swear they have success with some of them?

"The people who seek these things out tend to be people who take good care of their plants anyway," Stacey said. "If it works, it's them, not the Epsom salts."

And while these myths are annoying because they just don't work, the bigger issue, says Stacey, is that they continue to make plants seem like complicated things to be kept at arms length.

"There's not a lot of awareness of the benefits of gardening," she said. "People will walk by a yard with a beautiful garden and think 'I could never do that,' but that's because they haven't tried. Cooking used to be seen as a huge chore for people and now people are really into it. It became this huge thing and I think that could potentially happen for gardening. If more people gardened it would be great."

STACEY HIRVELA'S MUST-HAVE PLANTS FOR HER OWN GARDEN

• Native edibles including weeping persimmon, currants, pawpaws and Amelanchier aka Serviceberry: "It does everything: it's edible, it flowers it has fall color. You'd be crazy not to plant it!"
• Geum triflorum aka Prairie Smoke: "I just love it and will allow it to seed around and make itself at home."
• Hydrangeas: "When I came to this job I wasn't a super hydrangea nut, but when you find yourself exposed to a plant a lot, you appreciate things you might have missed before." Favorites include Hydrangea arborescens: "There are lace cap varietals I would not want to be without. I have never seen as many different pollinators on a plant as I've seen on 'White Dome.' It represents the best of hydrangeas don't associate with a plant that's really landscape worthy."

Other gardening experts I've written about:

Jack Barnwell

Renee Shepherd

GREAT NEW PLANTS FOR 2016: SHRUBS EDITION

A couple weeks ago, I shared some new annuals for 2016, and today I'm sharing new shrubs that look interesting.

Some affiliate links have been used.

1. Petite Pillar Dwarf Boxwood: Plant producers are smart to be working on new boxwood introductions because I still think it's the single hottest shrub of the moment. This one grows in a naturally columnar shape, topping out at 2 to 3 feet. Buxus microphylla 'MonAlex': Zones 5-9, full to part sun, 2-3 feet tall x 2 feet wide.

2. At Last Rose: This apricot beauty is said to have the disease resistance and low-maintenance needs of popular landscape roses such as Oso Easy and Knockout roses, but unlike others, doesn't lack the rose scent. It has a lot of petals so it takes on an old rose look. I'll admit, I'm wary of scent descriptions, but if this one is all it is cracked up to be, it'll have a spot in my garden. Rosa x 'Horcogjil': Zones 5-9, full sun, 30-36 inches tall and wide.

3. Loropetalum Jazz Hands Dwarf Pink: I can't grow this little dark-foliage beauty, but I sure wish I could. What more could you want in a plant: gorgeous purple foliage, hot pink dainty flowers and all in a package that can fit in a container or at the front of the border. Loropetalum chinese 'Kurenai': Zones 7b-9b, full to part sun, 1-3 feet tall x 3 feet wide.

4. Lil' Ditty Witherod Viburnum: So many shrubs are being downsized these days, which makes sense as the popularity of small-space gardening grows. This diminutive viburnum is another front-of-the-border charmer with fluffy white flowers that can grow a healthy crop of fruit so long as a pollinating plant is nearby (Viburnum nudum 'Brandywine' is one). It's super hardy and, like most viburnums, a cinch to grow. Viburnum cassinoides 'SMVCDD': Zones 3-8, part sun, 1-2 feet tall and wide

5. Moonlight Parfait Winter Daphne: Foliage shrubs are way too often overlooked, but they are so important in a garden. The amazing variegated foliage on this daphne will brighten up any partially shaded corner. It does get sweet-smelling pink flowers, but honestly they are an afterthought when the foliage is this pretty. Daphne odora 'Monstrik': Zones 7-9, full shade to partial sun, 3-4 feet tall and wide.

6. Gatsby Pink Oakleaf Hydrangea: You are probably impressed that I managed to get through this list with just one hydrangea on it. Gatsby Pink was my pick to win Shrub Madness and I was really wrong. It was out in the second round, but I still think it's a phenomenal plant. First of all, oak-leaf hydrangeas are lovely. They have interesting foliage that usually gets a nice color change in fall. The long flowers look like a combination of a paniculata hydrangea and a lacecap, and start white but quickly turn pink. Hydrangea quercifolia 'JoAnn': Zones 5-9, part sun, 6-8 feet tall and wide.


What new shrubs are you hoping to add to your garden this year?

It's time to prune! Oh wait, maybe not.

Don't forget, dear readers, that late winter is the best time to prune many shrubs (but not anything that blooms in spring).

I can't wait to do a bit of pruning for health, shape and size in my yard.

First off, that is not a black and white photo. Isn't that sad? The whole world is still shades of gray now. Even the sight of a brown lawn would be welcome at this point.

Secondly, you can see that unless I plan on digging out the shrubs prior to pruning them, there will be no pruning anytime soon.

One of the shrubs that gets pruned every year just to control its size is this Limelight hydrangea. It's a give and take, though. A good pruning (remember the year I cut it all back?) helps keep the size in check (by the way, the better option here would have been to plant a shrub whose mature size was more appropriate for the location but at the time I had no idea that a Limelight in a sunny spot would grow quite so much) but reduces the amount of flowers you'll have that year.

I won't do anything so drastic to it this year, but I will try to follow the one-third rule. I'll take out no more (and probably less) of the oldest branches and do a small amount of pruning individual branches for shape as well as cutting it's height back by about a one-third.

I will do the same thing for most of the other hydrangeas I have which fall under the panicle (Limelights, Little Limes) type or the smooth (Incrediball, Invicibelle and Annabelle) type. The exception will be my old Annabelle on the northwest corner of the house which is generally a mess. That will cut cut back to about 18 inches because it needs a complete reboot after years of no pruning.

If you need more guidance on pruning hydrangeas (or when to prune other types of shrubs), check out Proven Winners pruning guide.

The other plants that are in serious need of pruning this year are my Oso Easy roses. I love these roses. Well, I love all roses, but I've had a difficult time with most of them. These Oso Easy roses (which I've found to be superior to the Knock Out roses) grow and flower like crazy. And they got way too crazy last year. By the end of summer they were huge (and still blooming) but had lost all sense of shape and the occasional thorny branch would reach out and try to grab passersby.

Those will wait until spring for their pruning, when I can clearly tell where there is dead wood that needs to be removed.

It's sort of a sad world when I'm so desperate to garden that I actually look forward to pruning, isn't it?

So what's it like where you are? Can you even find your garden yet?

Expert garden bloggers share their favorite shrubs

When I first started creating the garden at our house, my first garden as before I just had a balcony to put containers on, I ran out and got every perennial I thought looked interesting. Of course I've learned so much since then and the beautiful thing about gardening is that you can correct your mistakes. One of the most valuable things I've learned is the beauty of a mixed border combining perennials, shrubs, annuals and even, occasionally, trees.

Shrubs are so key to good garden design because they offer structure and interest that you just can't get with perennials.

I love asking fellow gardeners what their favorite plants are. Last year I asked some great garden bloggers about perennials, but this year I tried to pin them down on shrubs. Here's what they had to say.

Kylee writes the excellent blog Our Little Acre and gardens in northwest Ohio. She has a handful of garden cats who hang around, chickens and an adorable new granddaughter. And in April, the book she co-authored with another fantastic garden blogger, Jenny Peterson, will be published. Indoor Plant Decor is going to be the bible of indoor gardening.

Here's what Kylee picked (see what a good job I did nailing her down to one? I'm such a pushover):

Just like last year, I've had a difficult time paring my favorite down to just one. Erin wants to know my favorite shrub and I just couldn't come up with just one! So, I narrowed it to these three: 

Proven Winners photo

• Physocarpus opulifolius 'Coppertina' - I wanted this from the moment I first heard about it, but had to be patient, because I didn't find it locally until a few years ago. It was every bit worth the wait! Its foliage color is beautiful when mature, stunning when new, and it always looks good, you know?  It's hardy in Zones 3-8 and it's not picky about soil pH.

Monrovia photo

• Fothergilla 'Mt. Airy' - When spring comes,  it shows up with bottlebrush white blooms that remain while its corrugated green foliage finishes leafing out. Then in fall, it turns an absolutely thrilling shade of orange.  When the sun hits it then, it fairly glows. This shrub was discovered here in my home state of Ohio by the great Dr. Michael Dirr, whom I had the opportunity to meet last month! Oddly enough, it likes acidic soil and we have alkaline, but it does just fine for me. (Rhodies, azaleas, and blueberries don't do well here, as a rule, since they too, like acidic soils.) Hardy in Zones 5-8.

• Magnolia x loebneri 'Leonard Messel' - Though it's pretty nondescript for most of the year and can be susceptible to powdery mildew, I would still be sad if anything happened to it.  What it does in spring makes up for all the rest of the season.  Its blooms are the most heartbreaking shade of pearly pink and the centers are real works of art if you look closely.  In time, it will grow quite large, unless you keep it pruned so it can remain a large shrub. Ours is currently very much in shrub form. It likes a fair amount of water, so we planted it in the wettest part of the yard and it seems happy there. It's very showy when blooming and is hardy in Zones 5-9, as well as being deer-resistant.

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 Anyone who has read this blog for long knows that I love Genevieve's blog North Coast Gardening. Even though she gardens in a very different part of the country from me, she always manages to speak to gardeners in any zone and she is always my go-to source for gardening product reviews.

Here's Gen's pick:

Photo courtesy of Genevieve Schmidt

Parrot's beak, or Clianthus puniceus, has been making my heart flutter for the last few years. I mean, just look at those blooms! They're a solid 2-3 inches long, come in large clusters, and you can choose from the regular coral or go for red (pictured) or white varieties.

A lot of plants with such splashy flowers have lackluster foliage or a rangy habit, but parrot's beak shines here, too. The leaves have a lush, fern-like appearance that fits in around water features, tropical-style plantings, or really, nearly anything. And while it makes a great stand-alone shrub, it's also a natural to espalier. I have one growing against my chicken coop that only sticks out about 2 feet, and I don't need to prune it much - just a little pinching to direct the growth. They'll grow about 5 feet tall and around if left to their own devices.

Obviously, since they're from New Zealand they need full sun, good drainage, and not too cold of a climate - they're happy in zones 8-11.

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Debbie is an expert garden designer and garden coach (which is so cool) in Connecticut's zone 6.  She is also a member of the Garden Designer's Roundtable, which is an incredible source of inspiration and information. She blogs at a Garden of Possibilities.

Here's Debbie's beautiful pick:

Photos courtesy of Debbie Roberts

While it's impossible to pick just one favorite shrub, I have to say purple beautyberry (Callicarpa dichotoma) is right at the top of my list of favorite shrubs. Even though it does have an interesting shape with its almost horizontal branches, for most of the year it's fairly quiet and unassuming. But in the fall, when many other shrubs and perennials are looking a bit tired, purple beautyberry puts on an amazing show. Small purple berries drip from the branches. The shrub seems to glows in the sunlight. Here in my Connecticut garden, the berries remain on the shrub after the leaves fall off so it's not unusual to find the little purple berries dusted with snow in the winter.

Purple beautyberry likes a spot in full sun to partial shade and average garden soil and it seems to be deer resistant, at least in my garden (knock on wood!)

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Christina Salwitz is a home gardening training specialist. That's a lot of words to say that she doesn't garden FOR people, she teaches them to garden, which seems so appropriate for an activity that derives so much of its enjoyment in doing it, not just appreciating it. She gardens in Washington state and blogs at The Personal Garden Coach where she posts amazing photos that will have you clambering to get into the garden, tips and tricks, book reviews and more. She is also the co-author of the new book Fine Foliage, which celebrates the beauty of foliage over flowers. You should see some of the amazing foliage combinations presented in the book. It's stunning. She is also a member of the Garden Designer's Roundtable. 

And because with a book hot off the presses and a booming coaching business she's a busy lady, so Christina cut right to the chase:

My favorite “lately” has been the Bountiful Blue Blueberry. It has SUCH amazing foliage color, evergreen, turns a lovely soft plum tone in winter, AND an incredible amount of great fruit. What’s not to love?!

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Steve Asbell is an incredibly talented gardener, blogger and artist who is lucky enough to garden in Florida (at least I'd consider him very lucky at this time of year). His blog, The Rainforest Garden, is about "taking a healthy dash of botanical style and incorporating it into your life through decorating, crafting, cooking and yes, even gardening." His illustrations are not to be missed. He also has a book coming out in early 2014. Plant by Numbers has tips and recipes for creating a carefree indoor garden with 50 artistic living arrangements with houseplants, ranging from tried and true Dracaenas to up-and-comers like mistletoe cactus and bromeliads.

Steve is writing about one of my favorite tropical shrubs:

Photo provided by Steve Asbell

Dwarf Bottlebrush (Callistemon viminalis ‘Little John’)

For those of you growing in zones 9-11, dwarf bottlebrush has everything you could possibly ask for in a shrub. First of all, it’s one of those rare bushes that stays small without much maintenance, with tight whorls of velvety blue-green leaves that stay attractive throughout the year. Most folks however, grow it for the fire-engine red ‘bottlebrush’ flowers that glow in the sunlight and bring hummingbirds in droves. All of these great features are reason enough to grow the plant, but the reason it gets my vote is that it is incredibly drought tolerant and thrives in the hottest and driest spots in my garden. If you live in zone 8 you can grow dwarf bottlebrush with protection, or just grow the larger varieties since the cold will keep them in check. In northern zones, dwarf bottlebrush’s small size and admirable drought tolerance makes it a winner for container plantings.

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Linda from Each Little World is a great blog friend whose garden isn't all that far from mine, but I still haven't seen yet. She is blogging less frequently than she once did but every post is insightful and interesting. I'm crossing my fingers that we'll see more of her garden as spring approaches, especially because big changes are in the works in her garden: a large tree that was the foundation of one of her shady beds fell in an early winter storm so she'll be figuring out what is next for that part of the garden. Her photos, often taken by her talented husband (and gardening conspirator) Mark, are stunning and look like they've been lifted from the pages of a lovely gardening book. 

Here's Linda's pick:

Dwarf Alpine current makes a long, low hedge curving away from the nearby apple trees in Linda's garden.
Mark Golbach photo

If it were May or June, then I'm sure I'd declare Doublefile Viburnum my favorite shrub. It's definitely a show-stopper and is always the center of attention when it blooms. But shrubs in the winter garden need to stand-out in a different way than summer plants. At this season, Alpine currant (Ribes alpinum) makes a much needed statement. I grow both the straight species and the dwarf variety ('Green Mound'). 

They take well to pruning, creating strong horizontal lines in the garden: green in summer; almost black in winter. Some years, they make a strong presence in the winter garden; other times only the top of the hedge peeks out of the deep snow. Because they become so densely twiggy they have not been broken like so many other garden specimens during the heavy snowstorms we've had in recent years. It's a shrub that's well-worth a second look, and it's usually readily available at most nurseries.

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Erin here: I'm overwhelmed by all the great shrubs that garden bloggers love. Some I've never heard of and others I had written off but now I'm anxious to try (Fothergilla and Alpine current, I'm looking at you). But I thought it was only fair to share my favorite shrub, which I know will come as no surprise to regular readers. 

Plant touchers unite!

 Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight' is hardly flashy anymore in these days of super-improved shrubs but to me, one of the best things about shrubs is that they are often the lowest maintenance plants in the yard. That's important to me.

I have some special plants and I'm happy to give them extra care but there just isn't time for a garden full of diva plants. Some of them just have to manage more or less on their own. And that's just what Limelight does. I prune it in very early spring or late winter every year (some years more than others), I sometimes throw some compost or organic fertilizer at the base of it (but sometimes not) and I make sure it gets a good amount of water (I have a soaker hose in that garden that I circle the root zone with). And that's it. It's hardy to zone 3 (Siberia?) and heat tolerate to zone 9. The only thing to know about it is that while hydrangeas have the (often wrong, at least in northern zones) reputation for liking shade or part shade, Limelight wants sun, at least up here (I would assume it would  take a bit more shade the farther south you are). Given those few things, Limelight offers up huge lime-tinged blossoms that fade to pink and then dry to brown, where they are a welcome sight in the winter garden.

Thank you to all the great garden bloggers who participated! Now, onto the important part: What is your favorite shrub?