This months showcase is simple, but very elegant. Using different textures to create a stunning landscape.
Not only do blueberry plants give you a magnificent crop of tasty little berries, they have two other seasons of interest as well. Bright little white flowers pop off of the shrub during the mid to late March time frame, which resemble lily of the valley somewhat. They also turm a stunning burgundy color in the fall and create nice landscape shrubs. Talk about multi-purpose!
Wooo, finally a Loropetalm that doesn’t get bigger than your house. The ‘Crimson Fire’ only gets 18″ tall and still has all the showiness of it’s big sisters. The deep burgundy leaves make a great backdrop for other flowers and will even stay evergreen for you. Bright pink flowers erupt from the shrub sporadically throughout the year and resemble fireworks. These will do the best in more sunshine than shade.
The possibilities of choosing a Dianthus are almost mind boggling. This low growing groundcover will treat you to pretty flowers just about all season long – as long as you dead head! Different shades of pinks and reds are available. Some of them are even fragrant! Plant these in dry sunshine and enjoy watching them multiply.
The leatherleaf sedge is used very commonly in containers, but is underused in the landscape. This grass is very fine bladed and will dance when the wind passes by it. It stays low to the ground, topping off only at about 16″ tall. This grass has a fantastic deep bronze color all year long and can tolerate pretty poor soils.
This viburnum really steals the hearts of anybody who walks by it. The flowers pop out and almost look like a baseball before they fully open. When each little bud starts to open up, then that ball starts to fluff up like an angry cat. These are really great shrubs, easy to grow and blooming twice a year. Plant these in sun to partial shade, and beware, they will get big (like 10′ big)
Using texture in other areas, make sure you use structural texture as well. The Weeping Norway Spruce is a fantastic example of a specimen tree with movement. Although it never actually moves, the drooping limbs make it appear to be falling over. These are really interesting and can be trimmed to be more exotic looking if need be. Plant in a good soil and add a bit of lime once in a while to make it even happier.
