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Perennial
Shrubs
Butterfly Bush
Blue Mist Spirea
Annabelle Hydrangea |
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Most homeowners now understand that there is a group
of garden and landscape plants called perennials.
Perennials are plants that grow back from the root
each spring. Many wildflowers and prairie grasses
fall into the category of perennial plants.
Perennials have become popular landscape and garden
plants because they grow and bloom each year without
having to be planted each spring like annuals
flowers such as petunias and marigolds. The term
“perennial” implies that these plants all live
forever, but experienced gardeners know that
perennials do have a varying and limited lifespan.
Some perennial's lifespan are 20 years or longer,
but the effective lifespan of 5 to 10 years are
common among perennials. For avid and amateur
gardeners alike, the limited lifespan of perennials,
is an opportunity to keep their gardens and
landscapes fresh and dynamic.
The popularity of perennial
flowers and perennial ornamental grasses has made it
easier to get homeowners to consider a relatively
new group of landscape plants that I like to call
perennials shrubs. Shrubs are generally considered
to be plants with woody stems that are able to
survive winter temperatures. And with most shrubs
this definition is valid. For most shrubs, if their
stems are not cold hardy, neither are the roots.
But there are several shrubs whose stems are not
winder hardy in Wyobraska, but whose root systems
are perfectly hardy. The stems of these “perennial
shrubs” die back to the ground each winter, but the
following spring new stems emerge, either from low
on the stems or from beneath the ground and grow
quickly enough to regain a full shrub size in the
landscape
Black Beauty Elderberry |
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Most
of these shrubs are summer flowering shrubs which
makes them very compatible with our summer oriented
growing season, and several are also xeriscape
plants, which makes them attractive to increasingly
water conscious homeowners. Finally, most of these
perennial shrubs are also tolerant of a wide range
of soils and will grow well in most Wyobraska
landscape soils.
The
planting, care, and maintenance of perennial shrubs
are about as easy as it gets. Perennial shrubs
typically grow very quickly, reaching their mature
size in Wyobraska settings in no more than two
years. A little shrub fertilizer in mid June is
usually beneficial, along with normal shrub or
landscape bed watering. The only other maintenance
is the annual spring pruning—cut them back to within
twelve or so inches from the ground. Research has
shown that performing this pruning in the fall
rather than in the spring can significantly increase
the chance of winter kill—so definitely prune your
perennial shrubs in the early spring—March or early
April. As with most perennials, perennial shrubs
will have varying life spans in Wyobraska. Most
will perform well for 5 to 10 years and then seem to
play out. A really harsh winter may also kill some
perennial shrubs. But when this happens,
experienced gardeners simply start over with the
latest new and improved version of another perennial
shrub.
And if
you’re wondering, “Why bother?” the answer is
simple. Perennial shrubs offer some of the best
summer flowers to be found in a Wyobraska landscape
or garden, with most in bloom from late July through
September.
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Previous Articles
Yes It's Time March 12
Pruning Trees March 26
Plant a Tree in 2009 April 02
Great Old Trees April 09
"Nightmare
on Elm Street?"
Elms & Oaks for WyoNeb
April 16
Green, Easy & Cheap April 23
No GardenSpace? No Problem
April 30
A Mother's Garden May 07
What Makes a Good Perennial?
May 14
Summer School - Kids Gardening
May 21
Do it yourself Landscape Planning
May 28
Butterfly Gardening June 4
Versatile Viburnums June 11
2008 Articles
2007 Articles
2006 Articles
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Here are some of my favorite perennial shrubs
Butterfly Bush
Butterfly bushes are have spear-like flowers at the
ends of their branches. Together the branches form a
rounded bush 2 to 6 feet high. Blooms are usually
purple, rose, magenta, or white. The foliage is
light blue-gray green. Butterfly bush is guaranteed
to attract butterflies and hummingbirds to your
landscape. Prune back to 12 inches or less in April
as new foliage emerges on lower stems or at the base
of the plant. It grows back to a full size shrub by
mid summer.
Annabelle
Hydrangea
This shade
tolerant perennial shrub features large rounded
flower heads that are the centerpiece of any shade
garden. Prune back to the ground each spring, and
then watch new light green foliage grow back to a
2-3 foot height with flowers from July through
frost. Attractive stems and dried flower heads in
winter.
Blue Mist
Spirea
A popular
perennial shrub for its masses of blue flowers all
summer. This small rounded shrub performs best when
pruned back to about a 12 inch height in early
spring. It also has attractive blue green foliage
before flowering begins in July. Flowers last
through September, and when not overwatered in the
fall, the plant develops good winter interest as
well.
Hardy
Hibiscus
Hardy
hibiscus offer the largest flowers of any Wyobraska
landscape plant. This perennial shrub dies back all
the way to the ground each winter, and often does
not begin to re-grow until early to mid June. But
by mid August it is once again a 4 to 6 foot tall
shrub that is loaded with stunning flowers that can
reach 12 inches across. At least ten named
cultivars are now being used in Wyobraska gardens.
Hibiscus like to be grown in moist soil in the
summer, but dry soil in the winter.
Elderberries
Elderberries
are one of those “old-fashioned” shrubs that are
being rediscovered. The species of elderberries
native to America are mostly traditional shrubs that
form something of a thicket—like chokecherry. But
the smaller European elderberries have been
hybridized by European gardeners to produce some
interesting “perennial shrubs” for American
landscapes. The black or red leafed elderberries
are particularly striking for their summer time
foliage and seem to be performing well in
Wyobraska. They appear to be able to develop woody
stems that survive the winters in many Wyobraska
gardens, but for best summertime foliage interest it
may be best to cut the back each spring anyway.
Pink Cloud Hardy Hibiscus |