Great progress has been made in 2018 in the SHRUB garden. Many additions have been included. In the last few months you may have noticed that steps were installed providing access to the patio located outside of the conference room. The steps were installed with assistance of the French Broad River Girls Academy. Many thanks girls, you did great work. Thanks to the Project Challenge team for putting down mulch and finishing touches. And finally many thanks to Rita Pelczar and John Wright for their fabulous garden design.
Interested in knowing what shrubs were included…check out the list. There are additional plants that will be included in the future….keep watching
Deciduous. Tough, fast growing, low profile (to 2 ft tall) shrub which spreads to 8 feet. Good ground cover for slopes, banks and areas with poor, dry soil. It has small yellow flowers, hairy red fruits, and glossy leaves that change to gorgeous orange-red in autumn. Fragrant when brushed against or leaves are crushed.
Grow in average, moist but well-drained soil in full sun (for best fall color) to part shade. Hardy zones 3-8.
An upright, dense, 12-20 ft. shrub with stems that become arching with age. Showy, creamy white flowers in spring. Glossy green foliage in the summer. Foliage is smoother and more lustrous than most viburnums. Edible, colored berries that birds love, starting as red, turning to blue, then black. Vibrant reddish-purple leaves in the fall and beautiful branch color in the winter.
Likes full sun and tolerates light shade. Flowers and fruit are more abundant with full sun. Adaptable to soil conditions, but prefers wet, mucky, acid soils
Large, native under story shrub, often forming thickets in undisturbed landscapes.
White, bell-shaped flowers in drooping clusters appear in early spring before trees leaf out, followed by unusual bladder-like seed pods, which are persistent long into the winter months.
Shade to part shade. Alkaline, m oist, well-drained soil. Hardy zones 4-8.
Deciduous holly. Soil adaptable, but prefers moist, acidic, organic loams. Good tolerance for poorly drained soils including wet boggy or swampy conditions. Full sun to part shade. Winterberries are dioecious (separate male and female plants). Only fertilized female flowers will produce the attractive red berries that are the signature of the species. One male winterberry should be sufficient for pollinating 6-10 female plants. Flowers on new growth. Prune to shape in early spring before new growth appears.
FLAME AZALEA
Rhododendron calendulaceum
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/all/rhododendron-calendulaceum/
This plant’s leaves are mid-green, and softly hairy on both sides. Plant bears lax trusses of yellow to dark reddish orange flowers. It grows to 8 feet tall and wide. Prefers full sun but may need shade in the South. Grow in moist, fertile, humus-rich acidic soil (pH 4.5 to 5.5) in dappled shade. Plant shallow, as plants are surface rooted and like a mulch covering.
Deciduous shrub with a dense, rounded habit, growing 6-9′ tall and wide. Its unusual, waterlily-like, fragrant flowers combine the scent of strawberries, banana, and pineapple. Flowers appear in May and continuing blooming on and off into June and July. The dark green leaves and bark release a clove or camphor-like scent when crushed.
Adaptable to many soil types and grows in sun or shade, though it blooms more when grown in full sun.
RED OSIER DOGWOOD
Cornus stolonifèra ‘Baileyi’
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/all/cornus-sericea-c-stolonifera/
Reddish stems turn bright red in winter and are particularly showy. Tiny, fragrant, white flowers appear in late spring. Best grown in organically rich, fertile, consistently moist soils in full sun to part shade. But tolerant of a wide range of soils, including swampy or boggy conditions. Best stem color occurs on young stems. Remove 20-25% of the oldest stems in early spring each year to stimulate growth of new stems which will display the best color.
AMERICAN CRANBERRY BUSH
Viburnum trilobum “Wentworth”
Dense, rounded shrub with white flowers in spring. Followed by yellow-red fruits that turn a brilliant scarlet-red and are not only very attractive, but good for making preserves. Fruits are slightly earlier ripening than other trilobums. Grows 10-12′ tall and wide. May have the best red fall color of any American cranberry. Sun to part shade. Longest-lived on moist well-drained soils.
SOUTHERN BUSH HONEYSUCKLE
Diervilla sessilifolia
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/all/diervilla-sessilifolia/
A vigorous, 3-5 ft high, spreading shrub with rich glossy green leaves with tapered tips emerge tinged with bronze and mature to mid-green on reddish stems and turn purplish in the fall. The 2- to 3-inch-diameter sulfur-yellow flowers in terminal clusters appear in mid-summer. The suckering nature of the plant can form colonies making it ideal as a mass planting or used to stabilize a slope.
Grows in fertile, well-drained soil. Tolerates poor conditions. Cut back in late winter for best flower production.
Compact, slow-growing dwarf variety growing 2-3 ft tall with similar spread and Interesting open habit.
Bottlebrush type spikes bloom in April-May before the leaves appear. Only the male flowers have color (showy white filaments and yellow anthers). Flowers are aromatic. Blue-green leaves which turn brilliant shades of yellow, orange and red in fall. Fruit is ornamental and an insignificant, two-seeded, beaked capsule that matures in fall.
Prefers partial shade and well-drained soils.
Grows at a slow to moderate rate, lives for 250 to 450+ years. Very shade-tolerant when young. It is often found in pure stands or forests mixed with eastern white pine, balsam fir or black spruce. Along with Fraser fir, red spruce is one of two primary tree types in the southern Appalachian spruce-fir forest, a distinct ecosystem found only in the highest elevations of the Southern Appalachian Mountains.
The wood is light, soft, narrow-ringed and faintly tinged with red. Because of its resonance, used in many higher-end acoustic guitars and violins as well as musical soundboards. Also used as a Christmas tree. Important wood used in making paper pulp. The sap can be used to make spruce gum and leafy red spruce twigs are boiled as a part of making spruce beer. Can be made into spruce pudding.
Shrub with long, arching branches and yellow-green fall foliage. Growing 3-6 ft tall and wide. Striking clusters of glossy, iridescent-purple fruit (sometimes white) at leaf axils in the fall and winter. Bark is light brown on older wood, while reddish brown on younger wood. Flowers small, pink, in dense clusters at the bases of the leaves. Fruits persist after the leaves have fallen. Part shade. Found on the perimeter of woody areas. Adaptable to moist, loam, sandy or shallow upland sites and a wide pH range. Intolerant of deep shade.
OAKLEAF HYDRANGE
Hydrangea quercifolia
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/all/hydrangea-quercifolia/
A deciduous shrub with white showy flower heads that can grow up to 26′ tall with an open crown. The plant sprouts shoots from underground stolons and often grows in colonies. Larger stems have attractive cinnamon-tan-orange bark that shreds and peels in thin flakes.
Plants in shade have larger leaves than those grown in sun. L eaves turn rich shades of red, bronze and purple in autumn that persist in winter accompanying the persistent dried flower-heads.
DWARF OAKLEAF HYDRANGEA ‘RUBY SLIPPERS’
Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Ruby Slippers’
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/all/hydrangea-quercifolia/
Small, deciduous, rounded shrub with dark green, deeply lobed foliage in summer; mahogany-red in fall. In early summer, ‘Ruby Slippers’ is covered with 9 inch long inflorescences that are held upright above the foliage. Flowers open white, but quickly turn pale pink and then deepen to rose. Full sun to partial shade. Needs sun for best flowering.
Grows 3.5′ tall x 5 ‘wide at 7 years. Well-drained, moisture-retentive soils, enriched with organic matter. Also does well in dry soils. Use mulch to keep its shallow roots cool.
Oakleaf hydrangeas bloom on last year’s growth, so prune them minimally after they bloom—not in early spring, when you’ll be removing flower buds.
Hardy zones 5-8.
Multi-stemmed, suckering, deciduous shrub generally 3′-5′ tall, sometimes larger, forming large, spreading colonies. Found on a range of sites from dry to swampy. Foliage is shiny and leathery with a dark green upper surface and light green under side.
Flowers in May are clusters of small, white flowers lasting only a week or so. Showy autumn foliage of orange, burgundy and purple.
Clusters of purplish-black pome fruit from September through December, generally eaten by birds. Hardy zones 3-8.
Upright, suckering shrub has fragrant, white or pink terminal flower spikes in late summer. The blooms look like bottle brushes and attract butterflies and bees. Leaves turn a pleasant yellow in autumn. Blooms well in shady areas. Site in dappled or partial shade and fertile, acidic, moist but well-drained soil. In winter, remove some of the oldest wood at the base.
An upright, rounded, multi-stemmed, deciduous shrub which typically matures to 6-10′ tall with a similar spread. Non-fragrant white flowers in flat-topped corymbs appear in late spring, followed by blue-black, berry-like drupes which are quite attractive to birds and wildlife.
Variable fall color ranges from drab yellow to attractive shades of orange and red.
Easily grown in average, medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. Prefers moist loams, but tolerates a wide range of soils. NOTE: Tolerant of clay soil and black walnut. Hardy zones 2-8. Prune as needed immediately after flowering.
Native Americans reportedly used the straight stems of this species for arrow shafts, hence the common name.
Fresh green leaves and smooth, light gray stems with white blooms in spring. In fall bunches of small berries form along the branches and turn bright red as the leaves fall off. Only female plants bear fruit (needs one male plant for berry production). Palatable to wildlife in the early spring. Possumhaw tends to sucker from the roots, so it’s best to allow it to form a multi-trunk screen. Grows 10-15′ ht x spread. Full sun to partial shade and moist, fertile soil.
Deciduous shrub which typically grows to 6-8′ tall and most noted for its attractive glossy red berries and red fall foliage color. Clusters of white to pinkish flowers appear in spring. Flowers are followed by abundant glossy red 3/8″ diameter fruit which appear in dense clusters along the branches.
Small, maintenance free shrub with yellow flowers from spring to late summer. Not particular about the soil type and adapts to both moist and dry soil, and even tolerates occasional flooding. It withstands drought but grows best with irrigation during prolonged dry spells. Full sun to part shade.
St. John’s wort has gotten a lot of press for being a mood regulator that may have the effects of an antidepressant without some of the side effects. Check with your physician before using.
The Cherokee used the leaves in an infusion to reduce diarrhea, fever, and gastrointestinal pain. They used a milky compound to rub on sores; sniffed the crushed plant for nosebleed; and the root was used in poultice for snake bite.
This beautiful, versatile shrub provides year round interest, from the showy white flower in May, to its burgundy color in autumn and dark blue berries in winter. The ripe berries are edible straight off the bush and are popular in jams and jellies. Adaptable to a wide range of sites, this Viburnum is found naturally in low woods or near stream banks, but also tolerates drier sites. Very shade tolerant in nature, it grows larger in more open sunny areas, growing 15-25 ft. Nannyberry spreads by roots to form colonies and makes an excellent privacy or hedgerow, or it can be maintained as a small tree by pruning stems and removing suckers at the base.
Hardy zones 2-8. Larval host to the Spring Azure butterfly.
PURPLE BEAUTYBERRY
Callicarpa dichotoma
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/all/callicarpa-dichotoma/
A small, rounded, deciduous shrub which typically grows 2-4′ tall with a showy fall display of lilac-violet fruit. Long, arching, slender branches dip downward often to touch the ground. Clusters (cymes) of small, pink to lavender flowers bloom in the leaf axils along the stems in summer. Flowers are followed by clusters of lilac-violet fruits (each 1/8″ diameter) which ripen in September and put on their best show through October. Fruits persist beyond the point of leaf drop but not very far into winter. Elliptic to obovate green leaves (1-3″ long) turn yellow in fall.
Easily grown in average, medium moisture, well-drained soil in full sun to part shade. Best flowering and fruiting is in full sun. Stems can become leggy in too much shade. Some tolerance for drought. Flowers bloom on new wood. Prune as needed in early spring. Most gardeners prefer to prune stems back to 6” in late winter to early spring each year. Such hard pruning tends to promote shrub compactness and good flowering.
Marshall Native Gardens 