By Carol Stocker
The Garden Club of America is helping to fund a 3300 square foot native shrub garden which will be planted June 2 at the Trailside Museum in Milton by the Milton Garden Club.
The New England Wild Flower Society grew the trees and shrubs and made a selection based on native plants found in New England woods, that create food and habitat for birds. If you are interested in doing this kind of planting yourself, here’s their list:
Amelanchier canadensis, shadblow tree, two, berries, 25×15.
Aronia arbutifolia, two, berries 6×6 (suckers)
Aronia melancarpa, two, berries 4×6 (suckers)
Cercis candensis var candensis, redbud, two, 25 x 25
Clethra ainifolia Hummingbird, 3×5
Cornus florida Heritage, a GCA anthracnose resistant selection.
Hamamelis virginiana, suckers, likes a moist spot, 15 x 2
Hydrangea arborescens Annabell, wants shade, 4×6 (from Missouri)
Ilex glabra Compacta, five, moisture, evergreen, 4×5
Ilex verticillata, Southern Gentleman, pollinator male, 9×9
Ilex verticillatam Winter Red, three females, bright red berries, 7×7
Kalmia angustifolia Kennebago, sheep laurel, moist, likes peatmoss, 2×4
Kalmia latifolia Carousel, two, mountain laurel, evergreen, likes moisture and rocks, 10×10
Salix discolor, pussy willow, catkins in late winter, suckers, 10×15
Sanbucus candensus, three,berries, including one dark leaved, 9×9
Viburnum acerifolium, suckers, two, berries, 5×5
Vaccinium corymbosum, highbush blueberry, berries, seven, two kinds for cross pollination, 7×7
Viburnum dentatum, straight branches used for Indian arrows, hence the name arrowwood, two, berries, 8×10
Don’t have 3300 square feet? Proven Winners, the company that has introduced so many high performance annual flowers for containers, has been expanding into shrubs bred for compactness for backyard gardens.
They are introducing two new varieties of Arrowwood Viburnums that only grow to 5X5, called “All That Glitters” and “All That Glows.” The reason for two different varieties is so they can cross pollinate and produce loads of the gorgeous blue berries that are so popular with birds. This is a great way to attract birds to your yard in a small space and would make an ecologically sound foundation planting. And they are deer resistant.
To clear up any confusion, these are not our native New England arrowwood, V. dentatnum, but a south eastern plant called limerock arrowwood, or V. baracteatum. But it is cold hardy here, and is endangered in the wild. And it seems to do ok in our acid soil, too.
Other new shrubs being introduced these years by Proven Winners includes a yellow needled minature arborvitae, Filip’s Magic Moment, which could substitute for Dwarf Alberta Spruce if you have a couple of yours that have outgrown their containers. There is also a new Spirea (yawn!) called Glow Girl with lime foliage that is 4×4, which still seems too big for me – I’d like to see a really small one. And of course PW has a new version of the ever popular blue reblooming Hydrangea Macrophylla. Let’s Dance Blue Rhapsody blooms amethyst blue and stays small enough for gardens (3×3).
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