There is still time to get new plants in the ground. And the
delights of new spring
shrubs in your landscape will reward your labors.

Some new introductions can be used as beautiful flowering
backgrounds behind annual and
perennial beds. They can act as single specimens or as
stand-alone shrub borders.

Pink Chinese
Loropetalum

One new shrub, the pink flowering Chinese loropetalum, is
taking the state by storm.
These shrubs will be covered with small, hot-pink flowers and
reddish purple new growth in
March and April. New flowers will develop sporadically during
the rest of the year.

These shrubs are evergreen, cold-hardy, drought-tolerant and
pest-resistant. However,
they do get to be large, 10 to 12 feet tall and two-thirds as
wide.

Fortunately, they’re very tolerant of pruning, so we can
control their height and
spread. And they grow well in full sun or partial shade.

Mohawk Viburnum

If you’d like to add fragrance to your spring, consider
Mohawk viburnum. The early
spring flowers open before the leaves and have a clove-like
aroma.

The flowers start in mid-March as small, deep-red buds.
These open as pale pink flowers
that turn white with age. The color and fragrance last nearly
two weeks.

This deciduous shrub reaches 6 to 8 feet tall and nearly as
wide. The glossy green
leaves emerge after the flowers and turn orange to wine red in
the fall.

Mohawk viburnum is hardy in zones 5 to 8 and grows in full
sun to partial shade in
moist, well-drained soils. Prune it conservatively to encourage
branching.

Alice oakleaf
hydrangea

For late-spring color, consider an Alice oakleaf hydrangea
for a floral showpiece. The
spectacular white spikes grow up to 14 inches tall and 6 inches
wide against bold,
dark-green foliage.

The blooms last, fading to a rosy pink and then brown. Alice
has a rich burgundy fall
color before the leaves drop.

This plant requires some shade, well-drained soils and room
to grow. It gets 10 to 12
feet tall and nearly as wide. Plant it in the back of the
border or on the edge of the
woods where it gets afternoon shade. To reduce the plant size,
prune it after blooming is
complete in early summer.

Mt. Airy
fothergilla

Another spring delight is the Mt. Airy fothergilla. The 3-
to 5-foot deciduous shrub
has each branch tip covered with honey-scented white bottle
brushes dancing in the breeze.

The gray-green leaves are tough and leathery, turning red,
yellow to orange in the
fall. The plants grow in sun or shade. And they’re pest-free
and drought-tolerant.

Use Mt. Airy fothergilla as a foreground shrub in front of
an evergreen or as a mass or
drift in the shrub border.

These spring flowering shrubs give us flowers, fragrance,
summer foliage and some
outstanding fall color. Now is the time to plant them and get
some root growth before the
spring floral show starts. You can add some spring beauty to
your garden yet this winter.